Crossing the Line
by Devoted-Twilighter
Summary: Rose was a Weasley. Scorpius was a Malfoy. The two were raised to hate each other, but when they are both assigned as prefects and potions partners, will all of that change?
1. Hogwarts Newest Prefects

Rose's POV

**Disclaimer**: As I type this, I become so envious of the woman who created this all, JK Rowling. Thanks for giving us Harry Potter!

1

"Rose!" Hermione called. "Rose! Hurry up! We're running late as it is!"

Rose Weasley was searching her room, throwing things over her shoulders and pulling open dresser doors. Hermione walked in and was hit by a blue blouse. "Rose! What on earth are you doing?!" Rose looked over her shoulder, her face red with frustration. "My wand! I can't find my bloody wand!" She turned back and continued to shift through her room.

Hermione looked around her oldest child's bedroom. It had been clean the night before. Rose brushed her hand against her forehead and kept up the search. "Mum! I can't find it!" she wailed after another set of seconds. Hermione probed her memory for a moment and then answered, "Your father used it yesterday to clean the dishes. Remember?"

"Right!" Rose said, slapping her forehead. "He's lost his too! Thanks, Mum!" she said quickly. She ran out past her mother and slid down the banister, nearly falling over her brother Hugo. "Hey! You almost hit Fabian's cage!" he cried, clutching his owl's cage protectively. She ignored him and ran into the kitchen. Her father, Ron, was underneath the sink. "Dad!" she yelled. He jumped and hit his head underneath the sink. "Ouch! Rosie, what is it?" he said, coming up with her wand in his hand. Rose sped over and grabbed her wand. "Thank you!" Before Ron could say anything, she flew out of the kitchen and ran back upstairs. She grabbed her trunk and tucked her wand into her pocket. Then she ran back down the stairs and ran out the door. "Let's go! We're running late!" she called to her family.

Hermione came down the stairs and Hugo followed after her. "Ron! Come on! The train leaves in ten minutes!" Ron grumbled something and then followed them outside the door. After they had fit Rose and Hugo's school trunks into the back of the car, they sped out towards King's Cross Station.

Rose pulled out a compact mirror from her pocket and was constantly checking her face. This year she had turned fifteen, and everything had changed. For once, her skin was smooth and clear, and her hair was not the frizzy red it used to be. Now her natural highlights had come in, and her hair fell into curly ringlets down at her elbows. She aimed the mirror to the prefect's badge that shone proudly on her school robes. Her mother had nearly had a heart attack when the letter came in saying that she had been chosen for the role of a prefect. It was not a surprise to her though. She had had good grades since her first year at Hogwarts. She still couldn't believe that she was entering her fifth year. This was an important one, not because she now had to take on the duties of a prefect, but because O.W.L.s were this year. She looked at her brother and scowled. He was in his third year and he didn't have to worry about that exam.

King's Cross station came into view and Rose jumped out of the car before it came to a complete stop. "Rose!" Ron yelled in an irritated way. She threw open the back of the car and pulled out her trunk. She heard Fabian screech and Hugo got out slowly. "Hurry up!" she yelled, tapping her foot. Hugo jumped and then quickly gathered his things. "How much time do we have?" he asked. Ron checked his watch. "Five minutes!"

Soon they were running down the train station, passing the different platforms. They came to platforms nine and ten. "Hugo, you first!" Hugo glanced around and then ran between the two barriers, Fabian screeching before he disappeared into the wall. Rose pushed her trolley through and came out right behind him. Ron and Hermione came onto platform nine and three-quarters a second later. "Goodbye!" Hermione said and kissed her children swiftly on the head. Ron pulled them both into a hug and they grabbed their trunks and boarded the train just before it started to pull away. Once they were on, Rose looked outside the window and waved to her mother and father. They smiled and waved back. Once they were out of sight, she started to look for a compartment.

"Rosie!"

Rose turned around at the sound of her name. Her cousin Lily ran up and gave her a hug. "We've been waiting forever! Come on, we're sharing a compartment with Molly and Roxanne." Molly and Roxanne were Rosie's cousins as well. Lily grabbed Rose's trunk and they came to a compartment a second later. She threw open the door and put the trunk in one of the luggage compartments. "Hey, Rosie!" Molly called. Molly was already in her seventh year at Hogwarts. Roxanne was lounging in the seat opposite to Molly. "Where have you been?" Roxanne asked in her high feminine voice.

"We just got on the train," Rose said exhaustedly. Lily closed the door behind them and sat down. Rose fell onto the seat next to Molly. "I just want to curl up into a ball and die," Rose complained. Molly started laughing. "What happened to you?"

"Okay, first of all, I woke up late. Then I couldn't find my school robes, and then after that my wand—"

Just then, the compartment door opened up, and leaning elegantly against the doorway was none other than Scorpius Malfoy.

Before Rose had even gotten on the train for her first year at Hogwarts, her father had warned her about the Malfoy family and their son Scorpius: "Don't get _too_ friendly with him, though, Rosie. Granddad Weasley would never forgive you if you married a pureblood." Rose had been confused at her father's words. Then, when she had gotten onto the train, she ran into Scorpius and he looked at her up and down. Smirking, he had said, "Watch it, _Weasel_." That day she had sworn a rivalry against her and Scorpius.

Rose came back to the present. Scorpius was wearing a smirk on his face and he asked, "Is the Weasley girl in here?"

Everyone turned their heads to him except for Lily. "Which one?" Roxanne asked.

"Are you a prefect?" Scorpius asked in a haughty way.

"No, but I am. What do you want?" Rose snapped.

Scorpius' face changed from a smirk to an astonished look. He stared at Rosie for a moment and then cleared his throat. "We have a meeting right now. You're holding us all up."

Rose groaned and stood up. "Perfect. Just what I need," she said. She turned to her cousins. "I'll be right back." Then she nudged past Scorpius and started down the hallway.

"You're going the wrong way, Weasley."

Rose stopped and turned around to glare at Scorpius. He had a smirk on his face now and pointed in the opposite direction. "The meeting is this way." Rose walked and nudged past him again. She heard him snicker and he stood in front of a compartment about eight doors down from Rose's. "Who in their right mind made _you_ a prefect, Malfoy?" Rose asked opening up the door. Scorpius glared and pushed her in roughly.

Once they were inside, Rose looked around and her face lit up. "Albus!" she cried. Her cousin waved at her and she joyfully sat down next to him. Sitting in the seat across from her were Dana Macmillan and Oliver Finch-Fletchley, obviously the Hufflepuff prefects. On the other side of them were Heather Smith and Rose's friend Lorcan, the Ravenclaw prefects. Sitting as far away from Rose as possible was Elizabeth Greengrass, the other Slytherin prefect. Scorpius had no choice but to sit between Elizabeth and Rose. Rose flinched when his arm brushed hers and his smirk became clearer.

Rose's cousin, Dominique, had been made Head Girl this year. Dominique was her Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur's daughter, and everywhere she walked, heads turned. Her perfect curvy figure and long, silky, blonde hair got the boys' attention. The Head Boy was Rose's other cousin, James. His brown eyes scoped the compartment, and he ran a hand through his messy dark brown hair. "Welcome to another year. Obviously you were chosen as prefects because you got the highest marks in all of your classes, and McGonagall thinks that you have leadership qualities and enough common sense. Now, before Dominiqueexplains what prefect's duties consist of, I just want to congratulate you all for being chosen for this role…and tell you that the Gryffindor quidditch team is _so_ gonna kick everyone's—OOF!" James was pushed back by Dominique, cutting him off short. "Thank you, James. Now, prefects are required to wear these badges everyday. This is so that students know that you have higher authority. Another thing: two prefects are required to patrol the corridors each night from a certain time to another certain time to make sure students are not out of bed…"

Rose stopped listening for several reasons.

The first was that she already knew everyone there was to know about being a prefect; James had had a great time rubbing it in when he got his badge two years ago. But of course the extra knowledge did not stop her from being nervous about it.

The second reason was that she was too exhausted to listen to anything. All she wanted to do was collapse on the floor from her hectic morning.

The third was that she felt someone watching her, and that made it harder to pay attention.

She turned her head to her left and looked at Albus. He had not been watching her. He was too absorbed in Dominique's monologue about prefect duties. She turned her head the opposite way and she saw Scorpius flick his eyes immediately to Dominique.

_Freak_, she thought, trying to catch the end of Dominique's sentence.

"As long as you remember everything, this year should run by smoothly." She flashed a brilliant smile and Oliver looked like his bones had melted. James saw the boy's reaction and glared at him and hissed quietly, "That's my cousin!" Oliver cringed and looked away from Dominique.

"Well, now you can all leave and enjoy the rest of the train ride." Dominiqueturned to James and started to talk to him animatedly, while Oliver walked around them avoiding Dominique. Dana caught Oliver's arm and cheerfully engaged him in conversation about Charms. Lorcan stopped in front of Albus. "How was your summer?"

Albus stood up and stretched. "Fine. How are Luna and Rolf?"

Lorcan smiled. "Mum is fine. She says that she may have discovered a new species, somewhat like a niffler, but she isn't certain yet. Dad is having some trouble at the ministry. He said that a lot of the ceilings in most of the offices have been raining…"

Rose ignored their conversation and started towards the door. Scorpius jumped up and held open the door for her.

"Oh, thanks Malfoy," Rose said surprised.

Scorpius looked like he was about to say, 'Your welcome', but then he rolled his eyes. "Save your breath, Weasely. I'm also holding the door open for my cousin." Elizabeth cackled a high pitch laugh and shoved past Rose. "See you later, blood-traitor!" Elizabeth yelled. Scorpius' mouth twitched and he followed the female Slytherin out. Rose smoothed out her robes and headed towards her compartment.

She opened the door and found Roxanne laughing and rolling on the floor. Rose almost fell over her and that made Roxanne laugh even harder. Lily and Molly were bursting into a fit of giggles. "What happened?" Rose asked curiously, sitting down.

It took Lily some time to stop giggling. "Roxanne was showing us a spell and her wand slipped out of her hand. The door was open and Ly-Lysander was walking by, so it hit him in the face and made his hair turn pink!" Molly giggled harder. "Oh, you had to be there, Rosie!" she said.

Rose was too exhausted for laughter. She put her head against the window and stared at the scenery passing by. After a while, her eyelids drooped and she started to drift off to sleep.

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"Weasley, Louis."

Rose lifted up her head to see the last child timidly get up and sit on the stool in front of the Great Hall. Dominique's younger brother was a handsome male version of her with the Weasley freckle trait that showed faintly over the center of his face. Rose spied a couple of Ravenclaw girls eyeing him longingly.

The tattered hat dropped on his head and shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"

A loud applause sounded from the Gryffindor table, and Rose whistled when Louis sat down next to her. She hugged her cousin and his face exploded into a huge grin. Roxanne and Molly each pecked him on one cheek each and James gave him a smile. Dominiquekissed his forehead and then the applause slowly faded away.

"Is it me, or is this school being infested with _Weasels_?" came a snide voice from behind them.

Dominique, Molly, Louis, Hugo, Roxanne, and her twin, Fred, all turned around to the voice. Rose lifted up her head weakly and spotted Elizabeth Greengrass with a smug look on her face. James, Lily, and Albus glared at her, even though they were only half Weasley. Elizabeth cackled when she saw the response. "See what I mean, Scorpius?" Scorpius smirked and Elizabeth turned her attention back to Professor Longbottom who had announced that the Sorting was over.

Rose wanted to slap the grin off of Elizabeth's face, but what she wanted to do more was eat and get the hell out of there. Then, the feast appeared before them and Fred, Albus, Hugo, Louis, and James dug in. Roxanne, Molly, Lily, Dominique and Rose made disgusted faces and ate their food a bit more civilized.

Rose then had the feeling that someone was watching her again. She twisted around in her seat and saw Scorpius Malfoy whistling a tune and filling up his plate with food. She could have sworn she saw him look at her out of the corner of his eye…

Then, Headmistress McGonagall stood up, said a few words, and then the Houses were dismissed one by one. Lily nudged Rose and she jumped up. She had been staring at Malfoy the whole time.

"Rose, you're a prefect! You have to lead everyone towards the common room." Rose groaned and stood up. Albus was waiting for her surrounded by excited and tiny first years. "Alright, just follow us and you won't get eaten by the ghosts!" Their expressions changed to horror and they started looking around anxiously. Albus laughed and Rose hit him in the arm. "Don't listen to him, he likes a laugh. The only thing a ghost could do to you is walk right through you and that is not—"

Just then, the Grey Lady Ghost of Ravenclaw accidentally floated through James. He jumped up and cursed at the spirit. Rose giggled. "See what I mean? It's like walking into an icy shower." The first years giggled at James and some girls were eyeing him with a dreamy look on their faces. Rose smiled at the way girls reacted around James. She then was reminded about the way boys acted around Dominique, and she felt pathetic. Why didn't boys look at her that way?

Albus clapped his hands together and said, "Well, now that Rose has successfully ruined my fun, follow us to the common room." He started walking out the hall and into the corridors. Rose was about to follow him, when someone pulled her back. She spun around and saw Professor Neville Longbottom leading her the opposite way. "Rosie, I need you to patrol the corridors tonight with Mr. Malfoy," he said and Scorpius was leaning casually against the Slytherin table.

_NO!_ Rose shouted internally. _Why? Why?! WHY!_

"Alright," she said feigning a smile. Neville gave her a pat on the back and then strode out of the Great Hall. Rose flipped her hair over her shoulder angrily and approached Scorpius. "Malfoy," she said, greeting him the usual way. "Weasley," he answered. He shook his blonde hair out of his face and stared at Rose. "Well? Where should we begin?"

"Um…we can wait if you want…"

"Good. I'm too exhausted to do anything."

Rose gasped and answered, "Me too!"

"Really?" Scorpius asked, looking surprised. "I woke up late this morning and then my Mum was making a fit about putting on dress robes. What happened to you?"

"I couldn't find my wand…" she trailed off shocked that she was having a decent conversation with Scorpius. He looked shocked as well and then looked around the Great Hall. "We should start patrolling," he said and then started towards the entrance. Rose followed and they walked down the corridors together. He looked at her a couple of times out of the corner of his eye, smirking about something.

They rounded a couple of halls and corners, going up different staircases and going through different classrooms. Once they got separated because the staircase moved without waiting for Rose. Scorpius flicked his wand and muttered something Rose couldn't hear, and lifted her onto the same floor as him.

They rounded another corner and walked straight into a snogging couple. The girl looked surprised and pushed the boy away from her. Scorpius' smirk became more distinct and clear on his face. Rose had the urge to giggle but she controlled herself and said, "Well…let's see…" she examined the girl's uniform, which had the Ravenclaw symbol on it. The boy was an African **(A/N: thank you, once again, ****amortentiaaa**** for the correction) **wearing the colors of Slytherin. "Go to your common room," she said to the girl who ran off at once. Scorpius looked at the boy with a thoughtful look on his face. "You better get back to the common room, Zabini." The boy, even though his skin was dark, was turning redder and redder every second. He sprinted off the opposite way of the girl.

Rose waited until they were out of earshot and then she burst into an uncontrollable fit of giggles. She was gasping for breath and she looked up to see Scorpius laughing as well. He had a soft, musical laugh. Once they were able to control themselves, she said, "It looked like he was eating her face!" They started to walk again, and after a long period of silence (except for Rose's occasional giggle), Scorpius finally muttered, "It's funny…"

Rose looked up at him, for he was almost a head taller than she. "What?" Scorpius shook his head. "I would have thought that Zabini, as proud as he is, would have fallen for a girl in his own House…not someone like Natalie Belby…a _Ravenclaw_." He said the last word like it was something dirty. Rose scowled at his sudden change of behavior.

An hour later Scorpius said, "We should be heading back to our common rooms. 'Night, Weasley." Then he walked away quickly one way leaving Rose alone. "Goodnight, Scor – Malfoy," she stammered after him.

She walked up a flight of stairs until she reached the Fat Lady Portrait. With a jolt, she realized that she had never gotten the new password. "Password?" the Fat Lady asked. Rose racked her brain thinking of something completely random. "Um…Lacewing Flies?" The Fat Lady rolled her eyes. "Bernie Botts Every Flavor?" Again the portrait gave a negative response. "Oh come on!" Rose said, stomping her foot. "I never got the password! I had to patrol tonight!" The Fat Lady scowled. "The password is 'Gurdyroot' and don't forget it." She swung open letting Rose in.

Rose thankfully ran into the common room and the Fat Lady swung the door close. She ran up to her dormitory and was delighted to see that her things had been taken up. Her trunk lay perfectly at the foot of her bed, and the other girls in her dormitory were sleeping. She quietly got dressed into her nightgown and snuggled underneath her bed covers. It wasn't until she was about to fall asleep when she realized that she had almost said, "Goodnight, Scorpius."

That was a line that did not need to be crossed.


	2. Who's My Potions Partner?

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**Disclaimer**: I wish I could wake up in the morning and be JK Rowling, the creator of all of this. Sadly, that can never happen. Mrs. Rowling owns the characters, the Wizarding World, and potions class. Not me.

2

Rose opened her eyes only to find unwelcome sunlight streaming over her. She groaned and rolled over. Mum would call her downstairs for breakfast any moment…

She shot up at once and looked around, remembering that she was at Hogwarts. The dormitory was deserted and she flung herself out of her bed and hurriedly got dressed. She ran a brush through her hair and examined herself in the mirror. She looked decent enough. Then she ran out of the dormitory, past the common room, out the portrait of the Fat Lady and headed straight towards the Great Hall for breakfast.

"Must you eat like a troll?" Rose heard Roxanne complain to Albus. She caught sight of her cousins sitting together at the Gryffindor table. She slid into the empty spot next to Albus while he glared up at Roxanne. "What? I'm hungry!" Rose smiled and Molly looked up from her eggs. "Where have you been?"

"I woke up late," Rose said simply and she rubbed her tired eyes. "Pass the bacon, James." Her oldest male cousin absentmindedly passed her the plate while he scanned the _Daily Prophet_. "Nothing interesting," he said slapping it down on the table.

Rose filled herself up with pumpkin juice and ham. Albus stood up and nudged her. "We have double-potions with Slytherin," he said sadly. Rose's eyes automatically drifted to the Slytherin table, where Scorpius Malfoy was just standing up as well. He started to walk out with a couple of haughty looking Slytherins. Before he left, Rose caught his eye and he gave a nod in greeting. Rose's mouth twitched to form a smile but before he could see it, he had already left.

"Come on," Albus said. "Let's go or Slughorn will corner us about 'responsibility' and 'when your mother and father were at Hogwarts…' crap." Rose stood up and followed her cousin out, blocking out his complaints the whole way.

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"Now, class, today we will work on the Draught of Living Death," Slughorn announced a couple of minutes after everyone had filed into the classroom. Albus was doodling on a spare piece of parchment and Rose only caught Slughorn's last words. She smiled; potions was one of her best subjects. This class should be a piece of cake.

"You're going to work in pairs," he started, but as soon as he said that, students started to get up and find their friends. "Wait! Wait! Sit down!" Everyone groaned and sat down. "_I_ have assigned you your partners. Now…Potter, you will work with Zabini." Rose and Albus looked at each other and then turned around behind them. Jonathan Zabini glared at Albus. Albus cursed silently under his breath, gathered his supplies, and then went to sit over by the angry Slytherin.

"Miss McDonald, you will work with Mr. Baddock." A blonde Gryffindor girl got up and swiftly moved over to work with a pale Slytherin boy.

"Mr. Dobb and Miss Greengrass." Jasper Dobb looked horrified at the fact of working with Elizabeth. She was one of the fiercest Slytherins. Elizabeth cackled her usual laugh and flipped her black ponytail. Jasper let out a groan and went to sit next to her.

"Miss Weasley and Mr. Malfoy."

Rose looked up and turned around. Scorpius was looking as if someone had slapped him. He raised his hand. "Yes, Mr. Malfoy?" Professor Slughorn asked.

"Sir…," he started, "Are you sure we can't pick our own partners? I mean, honestly—"

"No, Mr. Malfoy. Miss Weasley, please sit down next to your partner."

Rose looked at Scorpius with an apologetic look on her face. She grabbed her books and headed towards his table while Slughorn continued to assign everyone. She sat down and Scorpius looked at her until Slughorn finished pairing up students. "Now, if you would please open up your _Advanced Potion-Making_ books to page ten. You have the entire class time to finish the potion. Get started!"

Rose flipped open and book and Scorpius started to open his._ Draught of Living Death_ was typed in a fancy and elegant script at the top of the page. The cauldron's water started to boil and Rose read the first instruction. "Chop valerian roots to about one inch each…" Scorpius jumped up and quickly got the roots. Rose chopped them up swiftly and added them into the cauldron. "Now we need to cut the sopophorous bean…" he murmured. He got up once again and grabbed the beans, this time cutting them up himself. It was a difficult task, Rose observed. The shriveled up beans were stubborn to let the knife slice through them, but somehow Scorpius managed.

A couple minutes into the class, their cauldron had turned a light shade of lilac. Everyone else around them was having trouble with getting to that stage. They were using only one book now, Rose's, and they were bent over it in deep concentration. "We need to stir counterclockwise until the potion is as clear as water," Rose stated. She reached for the ladle but Scorpius had beaten her to it, and was already stirring their potion. "Malfoy, hand it over!" she commanded. "Let me stir."

"No," he simply said. The potion was turning paler, just like the book said.

She reached for it but Malfoy flicked the ladle in her direction, sending just a tiny sprinkle of the potion on Rose. "Oh!" she gasped, wiping the liquid away. "You idiot! What if it burns me or stains my robes? What if it—?"

Scorpius threw his hand over her mouth. "It won't hurt you! Do you think I would do that if it did?" Then he continued to stir it until it turned to the clear water stage. Rose looked at him absolutely dumbfounded. "I thought you would—"

"Time's up!" Slughorn called cheerfully. He examined all of the potions, sometimes making a revolted face. He looked in Albus and Zabini's cauldron and gagged. The scent coming from it smelled rotten. Then he looked over at Rose and Scorpius' and smiled. "Oh ho! This is the best work I've ever seen with this potion! My, my! I should pair you two up more often." Then he continued to examine the others. Rose looked at Scorpius and smiled shyly. He looked pleased with himself.

When class was dismissed, everyone who had been paired off broke away from each other and ran out the door. Albus didn't wait for Rose; he wanted to get away as far as possible from Zabini. Scorpius waited for Rose and she didn't notice. Before she walked away, Elizabeth slammed into her intentionally and all of Rose's books toppled to the ground.

"Oops!" Elizabeth said. She laughed and ran off. Rose's ears turned red, a Weasley trait she hated the most. She knew she would explode.

As she reached down for her books, she realized that someone had already stacked them, and was picking them up. She looked up into the cold, gray eyes of Scorpius Malfoy. "What are you doing?" she asked astonished. Scorpius gave her a friendly smile. "I think we make a good team in potions and this is just a way of saying 'Thanks'." He handed Rose her books and they stared at each for a long time. "Your welcome, I guess," Rose finally answered.

She started to walk away and then Scorpius stopped her. "Hey! Wait!"

"Yes?" she answered.

"Did…did you change your hair?" he asked.

Taken again by surprise, she could only laugh. "No, I only brushed through it this morning."

"Oh…well, you look different this year." He started to walk away.

"Thanks again for helping me with my books!"

He turned around and flashed another smile. "Don't mention it, Rose."

And then he was gone.

Rose stood there, her stomach squirming with the surprise and shock this day had held for her. She couldn't believe that he had done it: he had broken the imaginary treaty. He had smashed the barrier between her and him. _He_ had crossed the line and not her, no matter how tempted she was last night.

He had called her 'Rose'.

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Rose sat in the common room, her books spread out everywhere. She had already finished her homework, but she was working on an extra credit assignment for Defense Against the Dark Arts. All she had to do was write a conclusion for the essay. She bit her lip and thought of the most creative way to end it.

Then, the portrait hole opened up and closed again. Rose looked up and didn't see anyone there, but she knew she was not alone. "Hugo? Albus?" she called. Her cousins revealed themselves, throwing off their father's Invisibility Cloak. She looked at them with a stern expression. Hugo looked at Albus and then they both started laughing.

"Oh, come on! Hugo, you are thirteen and Albus, you are a prefect! Don't you two think you should be setting an example for Louis?"

"What?"

Rose turned around and saw Louis stepping down the stairs from the Boy's Dormitory. He looked curious. "I heard my name."

"Hey, Louis, want to come back out with us underneath the Cloak?"

Rose glared at them. Albus started laughing again. "No, seriously, Rose, he kicked Mrs. Norris! And then she hissed and we ran off! It was hilarious! She didn't even know where it came from! She was just strolling along and then WHAM! Like this," then he showed her but aiming a kick at Hugo's behind. He turned around and scowled. Louis had already joined them. "So, can I really go out underneath the Cloak?" he asked eagerly.

"Not tonight," Hugo replied. Louis' expression fell, disappointed. "But don't worry, maybe tomorrow." His face lit up and then he ran back up the stairs.

Rose rolled her eyes and then closed her notes and put away her essay. After all, it wasn't due until next week. She yawned and stretched her arms. "Well, I think I'm going to go to bed." She gathered up her books and started for the stairs. Then she whirled back around and pointed a finger at her brother and cousin. "If I find you two sneaking off in the middle of the night, I'm sending a letter to Aunt Ginny and mum." She heard Hugo snort, but she ignored it. She got up into her dormitory, slipped on her nightgown and crawled into her bed.


	3. Starting All Over

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**Disclaimer: **I do not own the characters, the potions, and the 'Slug Club'. They all belong to Mrs. Rowling! applause

3

The rest of the week was interesting for Rose Weasley.

Professor Slughorn had decided to use the same pair of students for every lesson. Rose picked up her books and sat down next to Scorpius. He smiled. "So Miss Weasley how was your day yesterday?" Rose smiled, liking this sudden friendliness. "It was…busy," she answered, suddenly reminded of her essay. Scorpius chuckled and flashed his smile again.

"Now, students, you will begin on working on the Draught of Peace. Please remember that too much of the ingredients could put the drinker into a heavy, irreversible sleep, so be careful preparing this potion. Now, you have the entire class time to finish it. Off you go!" he clapped his hands and everyone opened up their books to the page written on the board.

Rose looked at the instructions and bit her lip again, her face growing red with frustration with every word she read. "This is difficult, Malfoy," she muttered. He laughed. "For the Dream Team? Let's get to work!" He grabbed her hand and dragged her to the storage closet. Rose listed off the ingredients and he handed some of them to her, taking other ingredients himself. They sat back down at their table and started to get to work. Rose added in the exact number of ingredients and Scorpius stirred. Rose adjusted the heat on their cauldron. "Now add powered moonstone," Rose said. Scorpius measured the perfect amount and put it in. "Stir three times counterclockwise," he instructed Rose. She stirred it around and then turned back to him and said, "It has to 'simmer' for seven minutes."

He smirked and looked around. Again, no one had reached the step where Rose and Scorpius were. Slughorn walked by and examined their cauldron, giving an excited and approving nod. The minutes ticked by and then Scorpius finally said, "Now we have to add two drops of syrup of hellebore." Rose and Scorpius reached for it at the same time, and their fingers brushed together. Rose flinched and pulled away quickly. Scorpius smirked and then added two drops. "I think this is finished, Rose."

Again, he had called her by her first name. Their potion was now emitting a silvery vapor. She looked at him with a dazed look on her face. "What?" she asked. Scorpius pointed toward their work. "It says that it's finished when the potion starts to give off—"

"Not that."

"What then?" he asked perplexed.

"You—you called me Rose."

He smiled. "Well, that is your name, isn't it?"

She felt foolish when he ginned like that. "Yeah, but you always call me 'Weasley'."

He sighed and closed his textbook. "Rose, we're in our fifth year, we're prefects together, and I think we're finally starting to get along. We should at least stop calling each other by our surnames."

Rose glared at him. "The only reason we never got along in the first place is because the first time I met you, you knocked me over and called me _Weasel_!" She spat the last word. Scorpius still sat unwavering, and she realized now that they were leaning in towards each other, his face an inch away. She leaned back but she never let go of his gaze.

He analyzed her expression for a moment and then replied, "I have to admit, that was…stupid. I didn't even know you. I just…listened to my parents about your family." He played with his quill. "They told me that your entire family were blood-traitors. It was foolish of me to act that way before I even got to know you…I regret it. Is there any way we can get along _now_?"

Rose blinked. They continued to stare at each other. She opened her mouth to speak, but Slughorn cut her off.

"Time is up! Please take a sample from your cauldron and put some in a vial. Set it on my desk and I will have the results back to you tomorrow." Rose got up quickly and dipped the vial into their cauldron. She stuck a cork into it and set it on Professor Slughorn's desk. He gave her a warm smile. "I hope you and Mr. Malfoy gave me something worth examining!" Then he uncorked the bottle. Silvery vapor erupted from it, and Scorpius was at her side smirking. A couple of their classmates looked enviously at their final work. Albus breathed, "Blimey…"

Slughorn beamed. "You two are without a doubt the two finest potions students I've ever had!" He wiped a tear away. "Mr. Malfoy, I don't think I've had the pleasure of welcoming you into the Slug Club?"

Scorpius shook his head.

Slughorn's grin became wider. "Well, m'boy, our next get-together is this coming weekend! I hope to see you here Saturday at 7:00 sharp! Now, pass over the rest of your vials!" he said to the other students. "Oh, and Rose, dear, tell Mr. Malfoy about our club!" Then he continued to collect the other student's potions. Albus walked over to wait for Rose. Scorpius was still standing by her and Albus raised an eyebrow. "I'll see you in the Great Hall for lunch, Rosie." Then he left, looking back suspiciously at Scorpius.

Rose wanted to call out to her cousin, but then Scorpius tapped her on the shoulder. "As I was saying, is there any way we can get along?" His voice was cool and even. Rose hated him for that; he always seemed to have a straight poker face.

She looked down at her black school shoes. Then she looked up into his face. "I…I guess so…_Scorpius_." She said his name without any difficulty. She made a face, thinking about the first night they had arrived here, when she felt like calling him by his first name. She had been so cautious and scared…but he _wanted_ her to call him by his first name.

His face brightened. "Great! So…tell me about the Slug Club." They turned around and started to walk out of class. They passed students in the corridor, and some threw them confused glances. Others nudged each other and whispered. Rose had to admit that it did look odd: Rose Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy walking side by side, _not_ jeering or tantalizing each other.

"Oh…well, the Slug Club is just a bunch a students that Slughorn takes a liking to…you know, people he thinks are 'well-connected' or if you have the highest marks in certain classes…he liked you so much because we did the potions assignment quickly and correctly."

He nodded with understanding. "And how long have you been part of it?"

"Since my first year…" she said embarrassed.

They walked into the Great Hall and everyone did a double take. Rose felt her face turn red; she hated being the center of attention for the wrong reasons. She looked over at her family.

Molly had eyes as wide as her lunch plate in front of her. James was glaring at Scorpius and Albus had crossed his arms in disapproval. Roxanne and Fred were whispering to each other and Hugo and Louis looked down at their plates awkwardly. Lily looked awed, slightly suspicious. Dominique ignored them and continued to eat.

Rose looked at Scorpius and mumbled, "I'll talk to you later…" He nodded cheerfully and sat down at his proper table. Rose slid on the bench next to Molly and Albus. Lily was sitting across from them and she leaned over. "So…you and Malfoy…?" Then she waggled her eyebrows. James glared at her and hissed quietly, "You're _encouraging_ this??"

Lily laughed. "Oh, _come on_. Any girl can see he is a total—"

"Lily, I swear, if you say anything like, 'hunk' or 'babe' I'll tell Dad!"

Lily rolled her eyes and then turned to Rose. "So, what's the deal? Are you two together or what?" Rose looked down at her plate and didn't answer. Lily gasped. "You _are_! I knew it!" Albus knocked over his goblet at this and then screeched, "_WHAT??_" Many heads turned around at Albus' outburst. Rose shushed him and then waited until everyone had turned back around. "No, we are not 'together'." Lily's face fell at this. "We're just…friends. Chums. Pals. Buddies."

James mumbled something.

"What was that?" Lily asked.

"I said, 'He's still a Malfoy.'"

Rose bit her lip. "He's not that bad you know—"

"What about the Weasel comments?" Hugo asked. Rose looked at her brother in surprise. He hadn't said a word about the subject until now. He looked concerned.

"Please. He's mature now."

James raised an eyebrow. "Mature?"

"I mean he's grown up. James, stop being so inquisitive! It's not like he's going to point his wand at me and kill me any second." Molly wasn't talking, but she turned very white at this. Rose ignored it. They were all being paranoid, except for Lily. She was actually grateful for the fact that Lily ignored the rules concerning the interaction between the Malfoys, Weasleys, and Potters.

"Seriously, James. It's not like she's been off snogging him in a broom closet," Lily said. Then she winked at Rose and her face felt hot. James saw it too and he snarled, "Rose, I swear, if I learn that you and Malfoy are together I'll curse him so hard his bastard of a father will feel it."

Rose flinched at the words James said. She didn't want Scorpius to get hurt just because he was talking to her. She turned around and looked at him. Scorpius caught her gaze and smiled. Rose's stomach did a flip and she wiggled her fingers in a wave. He mouthed, "Hi," and waved back. Rose smiled a bit and then turned back around. James had his arms crossed. "Fine," he mumbled. "But I think Uncle Ron gets a say in this." Before Rose could protest, he got up from the table and strode from the Great Hall. "Hi, James!" a Ravenclaw girl shrieked at him. He ignored her, intent on where he was going. Rose could see he was headed to send an owl.

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Rose bit her lip in deep concentration, the book she had checked out for her Care of Magical Creatures essay in front of her. She couldn't believe that the library had offered only two books on unicorns. Rose let her mind wander off about the next trip to Hogsmeade, which was next weekend. Pretty soon she would be sitting inside the Three Broomsticks sipping Butterbeer with Albus and Lily and she won't have to worry about any assignments or essays or exams…

She shook her head and sighed. If she procrastinated any longer on this essay, she would fail the assignment. She started to read through the book in front of her again, still lost in her fantasies.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" came a voice from in front of her.

Rose looked up and her stomach did that weird flip again. Scorpius was piled down with his books and was looking right at her.

Rose knew what her answer had to be: _No, Scorpius._ She played it over and over in her head, but his eyes were so mesmerizing. _No, Scorpius. No, Scorpius. No, Scorpius_…

"Sure, Scorpius you can sit here." The answer tumbled out of her mouth so fast it sounded like one word. Scorpius smirked, set his books down, and pulled back a chair. He looked at her for a while until he finally asked, "What are you working on?" Rose answered, "An essay on unicorns. What about you?"

He looked down at his books. "Nothing. I came over to ask you something."

Rose gave him a puzzled look. "What?"

"Are you going to that Slug Club party on Saturday?"

Rose's heart started to beat faster. "I don't know…why?"

He leaned back in his chair, his messy blonde hair falling into his face. "I don't know anybody else in the club, so I was wondering if you wanted to go together."

_No, Scorpius. No, Scorpius. No, Scorpius_…_Yes, Scorpius_?

"Yes, that would great!" she responded. Scorpius smirked. "Cool, I'll see you Saturday." With that, he picked up his books and left the library.

Rose didn't know what had possessed her to say 'Yes'. She shouldn't have done that. There was a reason for why she wanted to go with him, and she was deathly scared of that reason.


	4. The Slug Club

4

**Disclaimer**: Everything belongs to JK Rowling sighs no matter how much I type.

4

Rose examined herself in the mirror: she wasn't too dressed up, yet, she didn't have on any too casual wear. She wasn't wearing her Hogwarts robes, but she was wearing the long sleeved white shirt that went underneath it with her Gryffindor tie hanging loosely around her neck. She tied it halfway and then smoothed out her skirt. On her ears she wore a pair of pearl earrings her Grandmother Molly had given to her as a Christmas gift. She then checked her hair, with which one part was tied up in a pony tail and the rest of her red locks were let down. She had held the ponytail together with a butterfly pin her mother bought her in a muggle village.

It was already Saturday, the night of the Slug Club party.

Lily had come up to the fifth year dormitory and was lying across Rose's bed reading a Quidditch magazine. She had looked up from it briefly watching Rose. She looked up again, and then a mischievous smile spread across her face. "Why is this party so different?" she asked.

Rose turned around and tried to look innocent. "Whatever do you mean?"

Lily closed her magazine and then sat up straight. "Well, each time you go to a Slug Club party, you're always complaining and you never _try_ to make yourself look decent." Rose raised an eyebrow after the last statement.

"No offense," Lily added.

"Some taken," Rose answered, rolling her eyes. Lily watched her for another minute and then asked again, "So, seriously, why is this party so different?"

"Well…usually I don't have a…a _reason_ to go to these parties." Rose smiled.

Lily's brown eyes stretched wide with curiosity. "A _reason_?? Oh! Did someone ask you?" Lily was now practically jumping up and down the bed with excitement. She had always enjoyed gossip.

Rose grinned. "Maybe…maybe not."

Lily groaned and then went to stand by Rose's side, now literally begging. "Rosie, please! I won't tell them," she promised, referring to the rest of their family as 'them'. Rose thought for a moment, still teasing Lily. At the same time, though, she really was thinking about what Lily's reaction would be when she said, 'Scorpius Malfoy asked me to the party.' Would she be overprotective, like James, or enthusiastic like how she had been in the Great Hall?

Rose decided to spill. "Scorpius Malfoy asked me to the party."

Lily's expression turned bright and then shouted, "I knew it! You _do_ fancy him! He fancies you too! Why else would he have asked you?!" Rose put her hand over Lily's mouth to keep her from shouting anything else that would be heard down in the common room. "Maybe because he doesn't know anyone else in the club and he didn't want to go alone?" I suggested. After all, that was what he had said when he asked her.

Lily snorted. "Yeah, sure, and James will stop pulling pranks," she countered. "Rosie, this is great! I mean, well, not great for our family, but still! I just knew it when you two walked into the Great Hall together! I got a good vibe from the both of you."

Rose smiled weakly. "Alright, alright. I don't know if I like him in _that_ way, but alright. Just promise me that you won't say anything."

Lily's face fell. "But he asked you to the party, why wouldn't you—?"

"Focus Lily: promise me you won't tell."

"I already did, remember?"

Rose was beginning to get frustrated. The party started soon. "Yes, but that was before you knew who it was. This time you have to swear on your broomstick." Lily put her hand on her heart and said in a solemn voice, "I swear on my Nimbus 2000, my most prized possession, handed down to me from my mother that I shall not tell that you and Scorpius Malfoy are going to the party together."

Rose clapped. "Very good. Now, I don't want to be late." She started for the door and bounded down the steps to the common room, Lily trailing behind her. Rose found her entire family sitting down there (except for James and Dominique, who were sharing the Head Dormitory two floors above them). Hugo and Louis were playing wizard's chess together, and Hugo had on a frustrated expression as the younger Weasley took out another one of his pawns. Fred was chatting to Albus about a new product Uncle George was working on for his joke shop, Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Roxanne was practicing her homework for Transfiguration: transfiguring human appearances. She had already successfully changed Molly's hair to bright neon orange and her own eyes to a gray color. Her stomach fluttered as if there were a million butterflies in there. The color of Roxanne's transfigured eyes reminded her so much of…

"Hey, Rosie, Lils." Albus' voice brought Rose out of her short daydream. She shook her head. _No, of course it wasn't a daydream about a certain boy's eyes…_

"So, Albus, are you going to the party?" Lily asked, sitting down next to Molly. Albus had also been part of the club as well. "Nah, I think I'm going to skip this one," he answered and gave a lazy flick of his wand to make the fire in the fireplace glow brighter. Lily gave Rose a 'look' and she knew what it meant: no one from her family would see her with Scorpius. "Alright, well, I'm going to go. I'll see you all later." Her family waved at her and acknowledged that she was leaving. Lily gave her thumbs up without anyone noticing. Rose nodded and then stepped out of the portrait hole.

She had only walked a few feet when she bumped into someone.

A chuckle emitted from the person and she looked up to see Scorpius. "Really, you should learn how to walk, Rose, and to break this habit of yours." Rose's cheeks flushed a deep red which made him laugh harder.

"What habit?"

"Well, you just can't seem to stop running people over."

Rose managed a laugh. "Right. So we should just go—wait, what were you doing outside the common room?" _How does he even know where it is?_

It was Scorpius' turn to blush. Rose had never seen him blush before, and she couldn't help notice that it made him look more attractive than he already was. His skin was always so pale, and the bright red on his cheeks made a lovely contrast to its usual color.

"I happened to be walking by. I…I didn't know the Gryffindor common room was there." Rose could see through his lie, but she didn't say anything. Instead, the inside of her head was whirling with more questions: _Was he waiting for me? Why did he lie? Is he ashamed of me? Did he not want me to know that he was waiting for me? _

"Oh," she replied. "Okay, let's go then."

Rose and Scorpius walked side by side, their destination being the dungeons where the potions classes took place. The whole walk there, Rose's heart was beating frantically against her chest, threatening to pop out. It was so loud, she was sure Scorpius could hear it. To confirm her thoughts, a wide smirk appeared on his face. Besides the thumping of her heart, the whole trip there was silent.

Music and laugher was blaring from the dungeons. Scorpius pushed open the door and led Rose in. It looked the same as any of the other parties she had attended. Rose took a couple more steps into the party and almost tripped over something. She bumped into Scorpius and he held her up, chuckling. Rose's ears turned red and she looked around for the source of her clumsiness. Then, when she spotted it, instead of anger she felt happiness: the house elf, Sunny.

"Sunny!" Rose called and the tiny house elf turned around and squeaked. She ran over and bowed low to the ground. "Hello, Missis Weasley!" Scorpius gave Rose a puzzled look, but she ignored it. "Sunny, how is everything going?" Sunny stood up and smiled. "Perfectly wonderful Missis Weasley! Sunny is sorry to leave, but Sunny must get back to serving, Missis Weasley!" she bowed low to the ground again and tumbled through the crowd, squeaking at everyone if they wanted more food.

Rose smiled. She often visited the kitchens late at night when she wanted a midnight snack. Sunny was the first house elf she had met, and she had been at the school when her parents were there. Sunny told her stories of the courageous house elf Dobby, as did her mother and father. Rose had taken a liking to Sunny, so it was only polite to say 'hello' whenever she saw her.

"You speak to house elves?" Scorpius asked.

Rose smiled. "Yes, they are so pleasant!"

"Why would you talk to them?"

Rose bit her lip and remembered her mother always ranting about SPEW, and her father shutting her up. Her mother had taught her to respect all magical creatures, because none of them are lower than wizards. She had said that all creatures were equal.

Rose didn't say this to Scorpius though. She thought about showing him the kitchen instead. "I'll show you sometime," she answered. Scorpius stared at her for a long time after that before shrugging it off.

"Rose! Scorpius! Come over here for a second!" Rose turned around and saw Slughorn motioning to the both of them. Scorpius grabbed Rose's arm and she tried to pull away. "What's wrong?" he asked. Rose groaned. "He's going to introduce us to someone. I always hate being the center of attention!" Scorpius laughed and ignored her complaining as he started to pull her to where Slughorn sat. Rose thought quickly and pulled out one of the pearl earrings and stuffed it in the pocket of her skirt.

She gave a believable gasp. "Oh!" Scorpius stopped pulling her and asked, "What is it now?" Rose started to look around and scan the floor. "My earring! It's gone!" Scorpius rolled his eyes. "We'll find it later, now let's go."

Rose whimpered. Scorpius stopped again and looked at her exasperatingly. "What, Rose?"

"Those were given to me by my Grandmother, Scorpius." Scorpius was standing in front of her now. He stealthily stuck his hand down her pocket, reached in, and pulled the earring out, holding it in front of her face. "You, Rose, are a terrible actress."

"Dammit," she replied and took the earring back. "Please, please, please. I don't want to meet another person. Trust me, it's boring, he does this to me at every party." Scorpius looked over at Slughorn, who now had his arm around another student and was introducing them to a tall man in blue dress robes. "I would hate to be rude, but I guess he has already forgotten about us." Rose exhaled, relieved.

Then, the music turned into a slow, elegant song. Scorpius looked at the band playing the music and then back at Rose. "Do you want to dance?" he asked.

Rose's answer got stuck inside her throat. It took her a few moments to answer. "I…I guess so." Scorpius smirked and twirled her onto the dance floor. Rose put her hand on his shoulder and grasped the other hand. His hand was soft, but cold. Then, he placed his other hand on her waist. A shiver was sent down her spine and her heart stopped beating altogether. Then, moving as one, they slowly danced to the music.

It wasn't awkward, but it was completely nerve-wracking. Rose was afraid she would step on his foot or trip over herself. Scorpius noticed her irregular breathing. "Something wrong?" he asked. Rose shook her head. Then, she realized that people around them were staring at them. They were dancing, but they were too focused on Rose and Scorpius. Rose's face flushed pink and Scorpius looked around as well. "It is a funny sight. The two of us: dancing." He laughed and looked down at Rose. His gray eyes melted into hers.

"So what?" Rose said. "Let them stare." She didn't care. She was having a great time.

Even when the music had changed to a more upbeat song, Rose had not let go of his hand, and Scorpius had not let go of her waist. Soon the surrounding students became bored of observing them and went about their own business.

It all seemed to end too soon in Rose's opinion. They were now walking back towards the common room, but they weren't touching each other at all. Rose was still in a daze about the dancing. Scorpius' mind seemed to be somewhere else too.

They stopped in front of the portrait hole, the Fat Lady snoozing in her frame. "That was fun, Rose. We should go to the next one together." He said. Rose smiled. "Yeah, that was fun. But the next one isn't until Christmas."

Scorpius frowned. Then his face brightened. "Are you going to Hogsmeade next weekend?"

Her heartbeat accelerated. "Yes. Are you?"

"Yeah. Maybe we can hang out there."

Rose nodded. "I'd like that."

By now, she wasn't even focusing on what she was saying. All she was looking at was Scorpius' features. Her eyes traced his light gold hair, his gray eyes, his nose, and then finally…his lips. His lips. His lips were a perfect shape and shade, and all she could imagine was if they were soft like his hands. She imagined herself, closing the distance between her lips and his.

"Goodnight, then." He said. He waved goodbye and walked away.

Rose waved her hand in farewell. She felt so…blissful. The Fat Lady woke up and Rose muttered the password. Like a zombie, she floated up to her dormitory and she didn't even remember getting undressed for bed. Her mind was in a different place than where her body was.

Was his hair as silky as it looked? She would love to run her fingers through it. Even touching it would be good enough for her.

His eyes were a cold gray, but they seemed so warm whenever she looked into them. Her brown eyes melting into his gave her the shivers…the good kind.

The only perfect feature she could think of on Scorpius was his lips. A minute ago she had daydreamed about kissing those lips. Lips that looked so soft and inviting. Her stomach flipped around again. Rose was sure about everything now.

She was sure of why she had agreed to be friends with him.

She was sure of why she agreed to go to the party with him, and to dance with him.

She was sure of why she imagined kissing him.

As she started to fall asleep, she accepted the truth. The truth seemed scary. She knew she would get disowned if her family found out.

The truth: She was hopelessly in love with Scorpius Malfoy.


	5. Questions in Hogsmeade

5

**Disclaimer**: I don't own dragons, or hippogriffs…wait, I don't know if JK Rowling invented dragons and I'm not sure about hippogriffs either. But what I do know is that I don't own Hogsmeade or these characters. She does.

5

_Mrs. Scorpius Malfoy…Rose Malfoy…Mr. and Mrs. Scorpius Malfoy…Scorpius and Rose…_

Rose closed her eyes and sighed at how perfect the names sounded together. She wasn't paying attention to anything these days except for a certain person. Whenever she saw Scorpius now, her heart fluttered dangerously. All it took was that signature smirk of his and that dazzling smile to get her heart to stop beating altogether.

"Rose? Rosie…? Earth to Rose!"

Rose snapped her eyes open. Albus and Molly were staring at her. Lily had a smile on her face and sipped her morning tea as if she knew nothing. Of course Lily had gotten Rose to spill everything the morning after the party. Rose was so happy that she found herself answering everything Lily shot at her.

"Did you dance??"

"Yes."

"Oh!" Lily gushed, smiling so big that Rose thought she might explode. "Wait, was he touching your waist?"

Rose closed her eyes and sighed a peaceful sigh. "Yes." Lily squealed and then gasped. "Did he kiss you?" she whispered. Rose's face fell. "No." Lily grumbled, disappointed.

"Well…how do you feel about him _now_?"

Rose smiled and her eyes brightened. "I feel happy. Joyous. Invincible. I think I may be in love with him." How easy it was to admit that. If Rose had had any doubts about Lily exploding, they were gone now. She squealed, danced around, and jumped on the bed.

"OhmygoodnessIcan'tbelievethisyouhavetoaskhimoutsoonorelseitwillbetoolate—"

"Slow down, Lily!"

Lily took a deep breath and squealed again. Rose would have usually yelled at Lily for making such a noise, but it didn't matter. She was too happy to be mad. She was in love. So she danced around with Lily, both of them squealing.

Rose came back to the present and looked at Albus. "What was that, Al?" He rolled his eyes. "Honestly, I don't know what's been with you the past few days. I said: What do you want to do at Hogsmeade today?"

Rose soon realized that it was Saturday. It had been exactly a week since the party. Hogsmeade. That meant that Scorpius would be there.

Lily filled in for Rose. "Rose and I want an all-girl's day together. Sorry, Al." Lily winked at Rose, already knowing that she would want to hang out with Scorpius. Rose felt so grateful to have an understanding cousin.

"Fine," Albus agreed. "Hugo! James!" he called. James looked up from his eggs. Hugo had been flirting with a Ravenclaw, but then stopped when Albus called him. "What?" he asked.

"The hippogriff flies at dawn." James and Hugo shared a mischievous look and both responded at the same time, "The dragon swims in the moonlight."

Lily whispered, "Creeeeeeeepy." Rose nodded. Molly gave Albus a questionable look. "What the hell was that?? Some kind of code?"

Albus laughed. "You girls will never know."

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"Rose!"

Rose whirled around and flattened out her curls. She saw Scorpius' blonde head bobbing over the crowd in Hogsmeade. Finally he reached her, out of breath. He flashed a breathtaking smile and asked, "So, what's on the agenda for today?"

She shrugged. "I don't know."

"How about a walk, then? We need to get to know each other more."

So they walked. As they walked, he asked questions. Rose didn't realize that they had walked so far out that they weren't even in the Hogsmeade village anymore. That didn't matter. She was with him.

"What's your favorite color?" He asked. This was probably the hundredth question he had asked.

"Gray," she said without thinking. Embarrassed, she blushed a bright red. "What about yours?" she asked. Scorpius answered, "It changes."

"Well, what is it now?"

He smirked. "Red."

This only made her blush harder.

"Alright," he said, sitting on a log. "What is your favorite Quidditch team?"

"The Holyhead Harpies."

He snorted. "Puddlemere United."

It was Rose's turn to snort. "Please. The chance of them winning _any_ season is impossible."

Scorpius turned to look at her. There he went with his eyes again…mesmerizing her…those sweet and bright eyes…

"You were on the Quidditch team last year, right?"

"Yeah, I played Chaser." Rose already knew what position Scorpius played: Keeper. She had been in matches against him in the past.

"Are you going to be on it this year?"

Rose smiled. "Of course! What kind of year would it be without Quidditch?"

"That's good, because I'm going to be on it too." He leaned back with his hands behind his head, looking perfectly at ease. He closed his eyes and asked yet another question. "Favorite subject?"

"Transfiguration."

"Why?"

"The whole idea of changing the appearances of objects or people, and changing the form of something else intrigues me. You?"

"Potions."

"Why?"

There was a long silence. Rose could hear her own heartbeat; that was how quiet it had gotten. After a minute of silence, she nudged Scorpius. He still didn't answer.

"Are you alive?" she snapped.

"You had to ask 'why'…" he grumbled. He sighed and she thought she heard him mutter, "Here it goes…"

Rose waited another minute. Finally Scorpius said, "It hasn't always been my favorite subject. I used to loathe it until…until that day Slughorn paired us up. I…realized that I like having you around and talking to you. I think…I think I like you, Rose. Maybe…maybe even deeper than just 'like' – Rose?"

Rose had looked like someone had punched her in the face. _Did he just say what I think he just said??_

"Scorpius…do you really mean that?"

He blinked. "Yes. I really do like you, Rose."

Before she knew what was happening, Scorpius' lips were on hers.

It was better than Rose had imagined. His lips were soft and warm, and they traced the movement of her mouth. The sweet scent of his _breath_ even drew her in. Her fingers got twisted up in his hair, and he was holding the back of her head to his. His hair really was silky. It was just like in those books she read, the ones that say stuff about 'fireworks' and 'spark' when you have your first kiss. Rose didn't feel that. She felt something stronger, something more like 'fire'.

Then, he pulled away, still holding her face in his hands. He gently brushed away a stray lock of red hair from her face. Rose looked at his eyes more clearly now. They were gray, but they also had gold flecks in them. She could feel his eyes analyzing her features as well.

"Rose, as my final question, will you be my girlfriend?" he asked. Rose breathed in the air around them. "Yes," she answered breathlessly. Scorpius smiled and gave her a quick, but sweet, kiss on the lips.

"What do we do now?" she asked. Scorpius picked up her hand and had entwined his fingers with hers. "That depends…we should tell our families before we go out in public like this."

Oh god. Her family. She had completely forgotten about them.

Lily of course, would be ecstatic. Her mother would be pleased that she had a boyfriend. Molly, Roxanne, and Dominique would probably not hold a grudge. Louis and Fred would be upset, but they would get over it. Then there was James, Hugo, Albus…and her father. Rose shuddered at the very thought of having to tell her dad. James would probably curse Scorpius into oblivion, Albus and Hugo would try to help James, and Ron would only want the boy killed or in Azkaban.

The sad thing was, she wasn't even exaggerating.

"Scorpius…you may need to go buy some sort of curse proof outfit or maybe a shield before I tell my family."

Scorpius only chuckled. "If they really loved you, they wouldn't care if I was a hippogriff with a third eye."

"My father would prefer you were a hippogriff with a third eye rather than a Malfoy…"

His face stayed composed but Rose saw the hurt flash in his eyes. As quickly as it had come, it was gone. "They only know my last name. They don't know the _true_ me." He sighed and then said, "Alright. If you'd rather not to tell your parents right now…we can wait until Christmas vacation and I can go home with you."

Rose processed that idea. It sounded safe, but how could they be together?

It was as if Scorpius had read her thoughts. "We could also date in secret, but I think at least one person should know about this. It would make things easier to have someone in on it."

Rose knew that none of Scorpius' friends, especially Elizabeth, would accept this. The only person she could think of was…

"We could tell my cousin Lily!" Rose suggested. Scorpius answered, "Are you sure?" Rose nodded her head, but she didn't need to tell him about how Lily was a good candidate…that would be too embarrassing to bring up now.

Scorpius smiled. "Alright then." Then he checked his watch. "We should be heading back now." They both stood up and Rose grabbed his hand. They walked as far as the village, hand in hand. Before they let go of each other, Scorpius scanned the area and kissed her again.

They pulled apart and he whispered, "I'll be counting the seconds until we can be together again."

"I won't forget to tell my cousin," she answered.

Then, reluctantly, they both walked away from each other before anyone could see them.


	6. Of Classrooms and Punches

6

**Disclaimer**: Once again this all belongs to JK Rowling. Even Quidditch! But the phrase in here, "My sister's/cousin's a scrapper!" came from George Lopez! XD I thought it was funny so I wanted that in here.

6

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"

"Lily, keep it down or else someone will – "

"I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS! I KNEW IT!" Then, Lily let another piercing, happy squeal escape her tiny body. Rose jumped on her and slapped her hand over her cousin's mouth. "Will you hush? Everyone else will think I've murdered you!"

Then, as if on cue, Rose heard Albus yell, "Rose, what are you doing to Lily up there, killing her?" Then she heard Hugo's laugh and then some more conversation in the common room. Rose let go of Lily. "Don't scream again, and if you feel the need to, please make it silent!" Lily didn't scream, but she danced around Rose's dormitory. "This is so wonderful! It's almost like Romeo and Juliet, that muggle play your mum read to me! Forbidden love!! Oh! I'm the only one who knows??" she asked astonished.

Rose nodded and Lily smiled. "Well, go see him now!" Rose lied down on her bed and rubbed her eyes. "I dunno…it's too late. Plus, I'm tired."

Lily lied down next to her, still grinning. "I can't believe he kissed you. How did it feel?"

Rose knew Lily was curious, so she answered, "It felt like my lips were on fire."

Lily looked confused. "Is that good or bad?" she asked.

"Good," Rose answered, smiling. Lily almost squealed again, but Rose slapped her leg to keep her quiet. "So, you won't tell anyone, right?" Lily stopped grinning. "I won't…but you know, sooner or later, they will find out whether I tell them or not…in this family, it's hard to keep _these_ kinds of secrets…"

Rose nodded, completely understanding. "If we're still dating by Christmas, he wants me to bring him home to the family." Lily gasped. "Did you tell him to prepare himself??" Rose nodded. "He thought I was joking…wait until he sees my dad…"

Lily giggled. "I'd like to see that. Not that I want him to get hurt or anything. Well, your secret is still safe with me."

A week later, Lily was covering for Rose and Scorpius. Rose had told her family she was going to skip lunch to catch up on some homework. "I'll see you in potions, Albus." Albus grumbled and continued to walk with Lily to the Great Hall. Before she left, Lily gave her a wink and Rose smiled. Then she walked up a couple of floors and looked for the classroom that had suits of armor next to it. This was the classroom Scorpius told her to go to in potions. It was the first time she was meeting him since the Hogsmeade trip, and she was nervous. After working up enough courage, she pushed open the door and peeked inside.

Scorpius was leaning against one of the desks, the sunlight hitting him at such a perfect angle, it was almost like he was glowing. He turned around at the sound of Rose's entrance and his face lit up into a smile. Before Rose could greet him, he had already swept her up into a powerful kiss.

Rose didn't think, she just put all of her energy into the kiss, weaving her fingers through his blonde hair. She felt his fingers on her waist holding her close to him. How long it lasted, Rose wasn't sure. Then, all of a sudden a noise sounded outside of the classroom door.

Scorpius stopped kissing her, his lips still on hers. He breathed against her mouth and Rose's heart pounded with fear. How could someone know they were up here? Then, Scorpius waited a while and pulled away from her. "That was close," he said.

"How do you know they're gone?" she whispered. Scorpius put a finger to her lips. "I heard them walk away, whoever they were. They're gone trust me. It was probably a first year who got lost."

Rose nodded. Scorpius gently pushed her to sit down on one of the desks and he sat on the one in front of her. He grabbed her hands and asked her, "Did you tell your cousin?" Rose nodded. "Lily is covering for me right now. I told everyone I was going to catch up on some homework, but if anyone goes looking for me, Lily will distract them." Scorpius smiled. "Brilliant."

Rose longed to kiss him again, but he said something that cut that from her mind. "Quidditch tryouts are this week."

"Really? I forgot about that."

"How could you forget?" He asked surprised.

"You've been the only thing on my mind."

He smirked. "Really, Rosie…anyways, I hope you make the team. You really are a good Chaser."

"As you are a good Keeper. If we make the team, don't ignore me completely during a game."

"Oh, are you using me now to distract me, Rose?" Scorpius asked smiling.

"Is it working so far?"

"Immensely so. I can't take my eyes off you."

Scorpius kissed her again, this time sweeter and softer. As he tried to pull away, she tried to pull him back in, and it worked. She got off the desk and wrapped her arms around him, and he responded by copying her motion. They swayed on the spot there, absorbed in one another, when another sound came from outside.

"PEEVES! How dare you set off a dung bomb in my classroom!" an adult voice yelled.

They froze and Scorpius looked at Rose in fear. Rose looked at the classroom door, expecting a teacher to burst through at any moment. Scorpius ducked behind a row of desks and he pulled Rose down with him. Then, the door opened and Rose held her breath. They heard someone grumble and then they slammed the door. "I'll find you, Peeves!" the voice yelled. The footsteps grew distant after a couple of minutes and Scorpius pulled Rose back up.

"Scorpius, we've only met one day and things are already not working! We need to—"

Scorpius stopped Rose from continuing. "We will make this work, I promise you. All I need to do is find a classroom that no one knows about. I need to find someplace where we can be alone."

Rose nodded and then Scorpius checked his watch. "Lunch ends in fifteen minutes, love. We should be heading back down." He grabbed her hand and opened the door. Scoping the area, he walked out with her until they got to the first staircase. Pecking him on the cheek, Rose whispered, "When will we meet again?"

Scorpius thought. "I'll send you a message. Right now I need to focus on finding another place for us to go." Rose nodded and then started to walk away. Scorpius called after her, "Rose!"

She turned around and looked at him. "Yes?"

"I love you," he said.

Rose's entire body warmed up. "I love you too." Then, she started down the stairs. On the way down, a painting near her commented, "Nice boy!" Rose narrowed her eyes. "If you say anything—" The man in the painting pretended to lock his lips and throw away the key. Rose smiled, amused, and kept on walking down.

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Rose stood next to James as he called off another name. He was about to say it, and then he smirked. "Rose Weasley." Rose smiled, and she knew why James was smirking. Rose had always been on the team, and she was the best Chaser they had. There was no way she wouldn't be on the team.

Rose got her Nimbus 2001 and kicked off into the sky. She looked around at the other students who were trying out. Each team was holding their tryouts today, and there were students from every house. Rose looked over at where the Slytherins were and saw Scorpius, who had already tried out. He looked at her at the exact time and smiled. Rose winked at him and then looked down at where James was. "Alright, Rosie. We're going to do some drills. Albus, Hugo!" he called. Albus and Hugo kicked off into the air and hovered beside Rose, who had already been chosen as the other two Chasers. James grabbed his Firebolt and flew swiftly up beside Rose and the others. James was the captain and the Keeper.

James threw the Quaffle to Hugo. "Rose, you already know what to do. Same as last year." With that, he flew to the goal posts and the three Chasers started the drill. Hugo flew towards the goal posts and passed it to Rose. With a great force, she easily made it fly through the ring. After four more times of doing this, she managed to get four goals out of five. The other students who had come to try out for Chaser only managed to get at least two goals in. Rose was then appointed the third Chaser.

The only positions they were missing were their two Beaters; Lily had been made the Seeker an hour before. Jasper Dobb tried out for the Beater position and in Rose's opinion, he was a good candidate. The other five Gryffindors that tried out only managed to hit themselves in the head, and one awkward girl hit Albus by accident with her club. In the end, Jasper and Melissa Baker got the positions. Melissa was the one who had hit Albus, but compared to the other five she was the best. James sighed and was happy to have gotten his team in order.

After Melissa had been made a Beater, Rose had just been able to see Scorpius made as the Slytherin Keeper. She smiled in his direction and his face brightened up. It looked like they were going to play against each other after all.

Albus was still complaining about Melissa when Rose was thinking. "Damn club got me in the back of my head. If she does that in the first match—"

"Albus, when is the first match?" Rose asked him cutting him off short. He shrugged. "I think two weeks. Hey James!" James turned around, annoyed at Albus. A pair of Hufflepuff girls had been talking to him about his Quidditch skills. "What is it?"

"When is the next match?"

"Next month. Now run along and play with Rosie!" He turned back around and started up the conversation with the girls.

"I was close," Albus said to Rose, smiling weakly. She rolled her eyes and started to walk from the Quidditch pitch. Then she caught sight of Scorpius again. He was leaning against the goal posts talking to the captain of the Slytherin team, Kevin Baddock. Rose was staring at Scorpius, wondering when he would send her that message…

Then, Rose stumbled and fell face first into the grass and mud. A familiar cackle came from above her. "Didn't you ever learn how to walk, _Weasel_?"

Elizabeth.

"Didn't anyone ever teach you manners, Greengrass?" Albus shouted at her. "You don't just go around tripping people!" Rose managed to stand up by this time.

"I'm not the one with a walking problem," she answered, smirking at Rose. The smirk looked so much like Scorpius', except this smirk made her want to throw up. "Maybe if she looked where she was going, she wouldn't be stumbling around all the time like some sort of three – legged hippogriff –"

Elizabeth never finished her sentence, because soon Rose's fist collided with Elizabeth's face, wiping the smirk away from it. She shrieked and staggered back, clutching at the spot where Rose's hand had hit it. When Elizabeth pulled her hand away, there was blood. Rose smiled triumphantly.

She looked over to her right to say something to Albus, but her eyes caught Scorpius instead. His face was smooth, but she could see his lips holding back a distant laugh and the amusement twinkling in his eyes.

"Alright, Rosie!" Albus cheered. James had saw what had happened and burst out laughing. "You know, as Head Boy, I should be opposed to this behavior, but this is too good!" Rose looked down at her hand which was covered with Elizabeth's blood. She tried to wipe it off, but most of it had stained her hand already. Lily walked over, giggling, with Hugo.

James sighed. "Ah well, all good things end eventually. Miss Greengrass, shall I escort you to the hospital wing?" Elizabeth's only answer was to spit at them. She then glared at Rose and then walked away, cursing to nothing in particular. Lily took Rose's hand and examined it. "Whoa, did she make you bleed, too?"

Rose shook her head. "No, that's her blood."

Hugo cheered, "Alright, my sister's a scrapper!"

Rose hit him and scolded, "Hugo!" Hugo just smiled and ran off to tell everyone else that Rose Weasley had punched the living daylights out of Elizabeth Greengrass.

When Rose finally made it back up to the castle, the rest her family caught sight of her bloody hand. Dominique fretted over her and asked her questions.

"What happened, Rosie?"

"I just—"

"Did someone hurt you?"

"Well, not really, but I—"

"What did they do to your hand?!"

"Nothing, that was my—"

"What do you mean _nothing_? It's bleeding!!"

"_Dominique_—!"

Albus jumped in and chimed, "Greengrass tripped her so Rosie punched her lights out."

Molly looked at her hand too. "Oh, Rosie! Did she hurt your hand? Is her head really that hard??"

Rose shook her head. "No, that's Greengrass' blood."

Fred smiled. "Alright! My cousin's a scrapper!" He high-fived Hugo and they both burst into a fit of laughter.

Rose narrowed her eyes, annoyed. Everyone kept asking her questions, but somehow, she finally managed to escape them and get into the prefect's bathroom. Proud of herself, she scrubbed Elizabeth's blood off in disgust.


	7. Strategies

Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns the Harry Potter world

**Disclaimer**: JK Rowling owns the characters, howlers, and Quidditch! But I wish I did instead…

7

Rose scanned the Great Hall ceiling, hoping that Scorpius would send an owl to give her a message about a new meeting place. The only owl that she could recognize though definitely did not come from Scorpius. The Potter family owl, Dobby (named after the courageous house-elf her parents and uncle never seemed to stop talking about), landed softly in front of her with a plain envelope in his beak.

Remembering that James had sent an owl, she looked across the table and gave him a glare. He stopped chewing and said, "Be thankphful if's nof a owler!"

Lily giggled. "Look, I think he's trying to communicate."

Albus chuckled. "Go on, Jamsie."

"Ooh, maybe you should start with simpler words like 'wands' or 'dragon'," Molly teased. "You're too inexperienced with the human language to be using full sentences."

"Maybe he's trying to speak troll!" Hugo exclaimed. Rose laughed and James swallowed his food. "You morons, I said 'Be thankful it's not a howler'!" This only made them laugh harder and when Rose could catch her breath, she carefully opened the envelope.

_Rosie,_ it read.

_You are so lucky I am stronger than your father when it comes to stunning spells. It only took me about two seconds to knock him out. He almost sent you a howler, you know, but I think that idea would have been a bit drastic. I am so proud that you are making new friends at Hogwarts. I am sure Scorpius is a nice boy. Don't worry about your father; I'll talk some sense into him as soon as he wakes up. Remember to study for your OWLs and do the best you can at your prefect duties! See you at Christmas! _

_Love, _

_Mom_

Rose smiled at the thought of her mother cornering her dad and shooting a stunning spell at him. That was something she would have to see for herself someday. She stroked Dobby softly on the head before he flew away. Then, smirking, she looked up at James. "Nice try, but my mother is okay with my friendship with Scorpius." Lily snorted and then Rose flicked her eyes to her, glaring daggers. Lily merely smiled and continued to eat.

"What about Uncle Ron?" James asked.

"Funny, he couldn't say anything about the matter."

James just scowled and then looked over at the Slytherin table. "I still don't like it. Something about that kid makes me want to jump up on the table and cast an Unforgivable Curse towards him."

Rose glared. "If you do that, I'll show you just how unforgivable those curses really are."

"Defending him now, are we?"

"He's my friend and I have every right to defend him!" She almost said 'boyfriend'. That would have given James a reason to cast an unforgivable curse.

Then, something in the pit of her stomach started to hurt. She stopped breathing and looked down at the letter that was still in her hands. _See you at Christmas!_

Christmas. Scorpius. Family.

Dad.

Maybe she would get a chance to see that stunning spell sooner than she had hoped.

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It had been a month, and Scorpius still hadn't answered Rose. They got to be together on patrols and hold hands, and sometimes occasionally kiss, but she needed some a place where she could be alone with him without any disruptions. This night happened to be another patrol.

"Why is it taking so long?" she complained to him as they passed the library.

Scorpius was about to answer when he spotted a student still in the library. "Excuse me, I'm going to have to ask you to return to your common room." The tiny blonde Ravenclaw (Rose guessed she was in her first year) jumped at the sound of Scorpius' voice and she quickly gathered her books. When she passed them, she noticed the Slytherin badge on Scorpius' robes and ran away quickly.

When she was out of earshot, Rose asked again, "Why is it taking so long?"

Scorpius looked at her with a pained expression. "I'm really trying, but all the homework this year and the Quidditch practices have kept me busy. Understand though that you are my most important priority."

Rose blushed at this and smiled. "I know, but it's so frustrating to wait."

Scorpius slid his hand into hers and they walked on a while in silence. Then, he said, "The first Quidditch match is tomorrow."

"Oh! Right!" She really was too caught up in this relationship. Rose had completely forgotten about the match.

"Rosie, try not to distract me," he said with a smirk.

"I don't know…that really could be used to my advantage…" she teased.

Scorpius chuckled. "Yes, it will take all of my energy to keep my eyes on the Quaffle rather than on you. Then again, _you_ will have the Quaffle most of the time so this should be a good game for me."

"Darn. I was hoping you would forget my Quidditch skills."

Scorpius smiled and looked around the corridor. Then, he kissed her quickly and they continued to walk.

"Just don't think I'm going to let you score a couple of goals."

Rose laughed. "Please! I don't need your help to score some goals."

"Is that a challenge, Miss Weasley? Are you saying that you're better than me at Quidditch?"

"Well, I guess we'll find out tomorrow then, won't we?"

"We will." He squeezed her hand and Rose smiled blissfully, feeling like the luckiest girl in the world.

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"Lily! Watch out!"

Rose saw her tiny cousin swerve around missing the Bludger by an inch. Elizabeth held the club in her hand, scowling that she had missed the Seeker. Rose flew off towards Albus, who had the Quaffle. She watched as he passed it to Hugo, who sped towards the goal posts where Scorpius was hovering.

Rose flew after him, wide open. Hugo passed her the Quaffle and she threw it into the goal. Scorpius narrowed his eyes, frustrated. It wasn't everyday his girlfriend beat him at his best sport. She winked at him and he smiled.

"Another point for Gryffindor!" Molly's voice said. Albus gave Rose a quick high five as he passed her. Scorpius threw the Quaffle back into the game and Kevin Baddock caught it. He didn't have it for long, because Jasper smacked a bludger in his direction, hitting his arm. He yelled a cuss word and let go of the Quaffle.

"Baddock feels he must express his anger by using foul language. I'm not sure how swearing is going to help his team win. The Quaffle is caught by Hugo Weasley and he's – oh no!"

Jennifer Sally-Anne, the other Beater on the Slytherin team, had swung her club and the Bludger hit Hugo in his right arm, a terrible crack echoing throughout the pitch. Hugo yelped and he clutched his arm, riding on his broom without any hands. Jonathan Zabini grabbed the Quaffle and managed to make a goal, since James was distracted by his cousin's injury. A cheer came from the Slytherins in the stands.

"Another point for Slytherin! This means that Gryffindor and Slytherin are tied 50 to 50!"

_Lily, get the Snitch!_ Rose pleaded inside her head. As if her cousin could read her mind, Rose saw a blur of red and gold streaking after something on the pitch. Derrick Pucey, the Slytherin Seeker, saw Lily and zoomed after her.

"Both Seekers have seemed to catch sight of the Snitch! Oh, and there goes Albus Potter with the Quaffle!"

Albus had gotten control of the Quaffle and Rose raced beside him. He passed it to her, and she saw Scorpius hovering protectively in front of the goal posts. If she could make this shot, she could get Gryffindor back in the lead. And if Lily caught the Snitch, they would win.

"Rose Weasley is now in control of the Quaffle and is going to make a goal! Gryffindor will be ahead once again, like they should, because we are the best—"

"WEASLEY!"

"Sorry McGonagall, I'm just making a point."

Scorpius smirked gave her a look that said, _Just try, love_. Rose smirked back and raised her arm to throw it in.

Then something horribly hard hit against her head and Rose dropped the Quaffle. She screamed and she almost fell off her broomstick, hanging onto it by her hands. She looked around for her attacker and spotted Elizabeth laughing, and Scorpius glaring.

"That's payback, _Weasel_!"

Rose tried to get back up on her broom. She had good upper body strength, but for some reason she couldn't hoist herself up. Her head felt too dizzy. Something trickled down her cheek and she realized it was blood. _How lovely_, she thought. _I'm swinging from my broomstick, helpless and bleeding, and my boyfriend is right there watching it all, and he can't do a thing. This just sucks. _

"Damn you, Elizabeth!" she yelled. Rose looked around and saw Lily and Derrick flying towards her, and something tiny and gold in front of them. Lily leaned forward, gaining speed, with her hand stretched out in front of her. Derrick tried to do the same thing, but the tiny redhead was faster. Rose saw the Snitch come towards her and then swerve around in the other direction. Lily followed the tiny gold ball perfectly, but Derrick had slower reflexes. _Oh snap_, Rose thought.

Derrick collided straight into her, knocking both of them off of their brooms. "Rose!" James called, concerned. She saw Scorpius' face twist up in horror. Rose felt herself falling, but she reached her hand up and caught another object – Derrick's broom. Using all of the energy she had left, she swung herself up onto the new broom and flew back into the game. _A Cleansweep. Great. _

"Is that a legal move?" she heard McGonagall's voice ask.

"Who cares, it was bloody brilliant! Rose Weasley managed to grab another broom before she fell to the ground! Great strategy!" Molly said. The Gryffindors gave a chorus of cheering and Rose smiled.

Rose turned her head to see Lily close her small hand over the Snitch and slow to a stop. Albus and Hugo flew towards her and gave her a high five. "Lily Potter has managed to catch the Snitch! Gryffindor wins the first Quidditch match!" The Gryffindors cheered louder than they ever had the entire game.

Rose flew to the ground and mounted the broom. Derrick was still on the ground recovering, and Rose simply threw the broomstick on top of him. She looked around and saw her broom lying in the grass, unscathed and perfect. She picked it up and walked towards her team, who were just beginning to descend. Scorpius was beside her in an instant. "You were great."

"Does that mean I win the challenge?" she asked.

"Yes. That was excellent, stealing Derrick's broom. I would have just let myself fall."

Rose laughed and then was interrupted by Melissa. "Rose! We won! We won!" Elizabeth heard Melissa and kicked the back of her leg. Melissa squealed and turned around to glare at the Slytherin.

"Don't get used to victory, _mudblood_!" she spat. Rose narrowed her eyes. She had forgotten that Melissa was a Muggle-born, which made her an easy target for verbal abuse.

Melissa gulped, as if she were trying to hold back tears. Rose felt like punching Elizabeth again, so when she twitched her fingers in an effort to form a fist, Elizabeth spotted the movement and ran back to her team. Scorpius chuckled.

Melissa seemed to notice Scorpius for the first time. "Rosie, let's go back to the common room. I'm sure everyone is going to want to congratulate us," she said awkwardly. She tugged on Rose's arm and started to pull her away. Rose gave Scorpius an apologetic look and he only smiled.

"I'll see you later, Rose." She heard the double meaning behind his words.

"You too, Scorpius."


	8. Alone at Last

Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter world or any of the other surprises that may come up in this chapter… :3

**Disclaimer**: I do not own the Harry Potter world or any of the other surprises that may come up in this chapter… :3 By the way, sorry this chapter took a long time! I've been EXTREMELY busy. Any – who, enjoy!

**Note**: Thank you, amortentiaaa, for pointing out some errors in my story. Zabini is not African American, just African or black (hits self) because they live in Britain. And I also think I did some of the scoring wrong in the Quidditch scene, but whatever. Bear with me!

8

Rose had successfully stopped the bleeding coming from her head and retreated to the safety of her dormitory. She locked the door and collapsed on her bed. _I am eternally damning Melissa Baker…_, she thought angrily.

When Melissa had forcibly dragged her from the Quidditch pitch to the common room, a huge mob of Gryffindors were waiting there for the team. They crowded around each and every member to ask them about the details of the match they could have missed from the stands. Lily and Rose got the most attention: Lily for winning the game, and Rose for taking over a broom.

Now that she thought back on it, the whole commandeering-Derrick's-broom thing wasn't that impressive. She just reached out her hand…

But she was set on eternally damning Melissa Baker for dragging her up to the common room and letting the entire Gryffindor house nearly suffocate her with questions and compliments. She hated being the center of attention for these reasons. Rose didn't realize making a miraculous move in a Quidditch match would give her _that_ much attention…it wasn't like she had won the game…

_Tap_. _Tap_. _Tap_.

Rose sat up and looked around. Was someone trying to get into the room? _Oh God, please! No more people! _she pleaded internally.

_Tap_. _Tap_. _Tap_. _Screech!_

"What the…?" Rose looked around for the source of the noise.

_Humans don't make screeching noises_, she thought. Then, she turned towards the window and spotted a beautiful gray owl tapping against the glass. Rose walked over cautiously, and she slid open the window.

The owl flew in, hooting with pleasure as it dropped an envelope on her bed. She turned back around and ran over to her bed, lifting the letter.

_Rosie_. It was written on the back in Scorpius' neat handwriting.

_Scorpius' owl!_ Her heart spluttered and she ripped open the precious envelope, hoping that whatever was inside was what she had been waiting for.

_I'm sorry I kept you waiting. Meet me tomorrow night in the Great Hall at 10:00. Bring your cousin's Invisibility Cloak. _

_Love, Scorpius_

_PS, Try not to get trampled on TOO much by your Gryffindor fan club. _

Rose rolled her eyes and smiled at the last words written on his letter._ Too late for warnings_, she thought.

Wait – how did he know about the cloak? She had never mentioned it. Rose shrugged it off, remembering she would interrogate him about that later. For now, she had the promise of a new meeting place written in black and white.

She quickly wrote her response and gave it to the owl. It screeched and flew out of the open window. She unlocked the door, giving her roommates the chance to come back up to go to sleep. She undressed and crawled into bed, her response playing in her head as she fell asleep.

_I'll be there. _

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"Scorpius, can you please tell me where we're going?"

"It's just a little farther, Rosie."

She scowled from underneath the Invisibility Cloak. Since girls are allowed in the boys' dormitory and Albus is a heavy sleeper **(A/N: thank you, once again, ****amortentiaaa**** for the correction)**, it was really easy to take the cloak from him. Rose had met Scorpius down in the Great Hall as planned, but he didn't tell her where he was taking her.

"Scorpius, why won't you tell me?"

Scorpius laughed softly. "You are so impatient sometimes."

They came to a corridor and Rose looked around. "This corridor is empty. Scorpius, is this some kind of joke?"

He shook his head. "Really, you _are_ impatient. Be quiet for a moment." Rose watched as Scorpius led her towards the end of the corridor, then back. Rose stumbled over his heels as he turned back around.

"Oops! Sorry."

He chuckled quietly and did the same thing two more times before looking in front of him and smiling. "It worked, Rosie."

"What worked?—Oh!" Rose looked in front of her in awe as she pulled off the Invisibility Cloak. Scorpius was smirking beside her and he grabbed her hand and led her towards the door that had suddenly appeared in front of them.

"How…?"

"I remember my dad telling me about this room. He had used it when he was at Hogwarts, though the reasons he used it for I'm not very proud of. It's supposed to appear when the user is in need of it." Then he squeezed her hand and smiled. "And we are in desperate need of a place to be alone."

Rose was so happy, but she also felt stupid. Of course her parents had told her about this room, but she had forgotten about it. At least Scorpius remembered. "Well, what are we waiting for?" She reached out her hand, turned the doorknob, and opened the door.

"Wow," she breathed.

"I couldn't have said it better myself," Scorpius whispered.

The room was transformed to look like a common room. A fireplace crackled merrily in the corner. The walls were painted in earth tones, very neutral instead of the house colors. There were couches, armchairs, and a table in the center of the room. The most enchanting feature of all was the bewitched ceilings, which looked like the one in the Great Hall. It was like a very starry night, and Rose could've pointed out at least ten shooting stars since the moment she looked up to see it.

"This is amazing!" She threw her arms around Scorpius' neck and planted a kiss on him. "I can't believe this is possible!" She ran over to the couch and sat down on it.

"The best part is that no one but us can get into _this_ particular room," Scorpius said sitting beside her. He put his arm around her and Rose let her head rest on his shoulder.

"You're amazing too."

He smirked. "So I've been told."

Rose smiled; she was at peace.

"So did you tell your family I was coming over for Christmas or is it still going to be a surprise?"

The peace was over.

"I think we should leave it as a surprise…" Rose said slowly.

"Then again you did mention something about your family wanting to kill me. I'm not sure how an unwanted Malfoy showing up on their doorstep with his arm around you during Christmas unexpected is going to decrease their need to murder me. It would be better to tell them beforehand."

"You do have a point, but my father would probably want to prevent me from bringing you home if I told him beforehand."

"Okay…here's a new idea: just tell them you're bringing home a boy for Christmas. My identity can be kept a secret. At least they'll know to be expecting me…just not _me_, if that makes any sense."

"It does make sense. Alright I'll do it," she agreed.

"Okay." Then he reached over and opened up a drawer in the table. Inside there was parchment, quills, and ink. He gave Rose one quill and a piece of parchment. "Start writing, Rosie."

She groaned and he smirked. "I'll help you. Start with, "Dear Mother and Father—"

"'Dear Mother and Father'. My boyfriend is very impatient—"

"Seriously Rose."

"Alright, alright. Dear Mum and Dad, I can't wait to see you at Christmas! By the way mum, I got your letter. I won't write what she put, Dad **(A/N: thank you, once again, ****amortentiaaa**** for the correction)**,but it was very interesting. Yes, I'm glad I'm making new friends too." Scorpius raised an eyebrow. She looked up and smiled. "What?" she asked innocently.

"'New friends'?"

"James wrote a letter when we started talking to each other decently. He wasn't very happy about the friendship…"

"I noticed. He has been giving me glares in the Great Hall."

"Yes, James is being…er…"

"Mean? Arrogant?"

"Well, sort of a…_butt-head_ about the relationship _he_ knows about."

He laughed. "Which is friendship?"

"Precisely. Now, where were we…? Right," she said and kept writing down the letter. "Speaking of friends, I actually met a nice boy. We're dating. He wants to meet you all, so he'll be coming over for Christmas." She hesitated. "How does that sound?" she asked him.

"A bit corny, but it will do. Continue."

"We're both really excited. I hope you like him! I know Christmas this year at the Burrow will be great. Lots of Love, Rosie."

"Well, I'll admit it's not your best work, but I'm still making you send it," he said smirking.

Rose scowled at him. "I hate you," she said.

Scorpius chuckled. "I love you too."

"'Love' is a strong word, Scorpius." Rose truly loved him, and she had said it back to him, but the words tumbled out of her mouth when she did. Then again, she had never experienced anything like this before.

"As is the word 'hate'." He pulled Rose into his chest and she happily lied down her head there. "I have never wanted anyone else but you, though," he said.

Rose stiffened. That comment reminded her of all of the girls who used to be Scorpius' girlfriends, and all the girls in the Slytherin House that flirted with him.

Scorpius sat up straighter and reached over to take the letter off of the table. He stuck it in an envelope and then handed it back to Rose. Rose stared at it like it was going to bite her. "Really, we don't have to send it…better yet, you don't have to come over for Christmas…"

Scorpius turned Rose around so she was looking at him. "Rose…do you not like me anymore? Because it seems to me that I am unwanted by you. Or are you more afraid that I'm going to get killed or something?" He said that last comment with a hint of amusement in his eyes. Then he flashed a smile.

Rose's bones melted and she turned a deep shade of red. As she struggled to talk, she kept saying incoherent answers. "Well…er, no, of course I still like you—I just—er—"

He chuckled and kissed the tip of her nose. "Rosie, don't you trust me?"

_Damn it_, she thought. "You cheat," she said, sticking out her lower lip.

"You're still sending it."

"Fine," she agreed unwillingly. He smirked triumphantly and twisted Rose around back into the position of her lying on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and they sat in comfortable silence in The Room of Requirement.

**A/N: Yes, not my most exciting chapter. At least, I don't think so. Oh well. So, eventually, I am going to do a chapter on when she takes him home for Christmas, and I was wondering if I should do that chapter in Rose's point of view or….in Scorpius' point of view? YOU DECIDE! Now, go review. Please? I love you!**


	9. Exposed

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Harry Potter

**Disclaimer**: I do not own anything related to Harry Potter. I swear. I wish I did, though. But I can still mess around with the characters! I don't own The Wizard of Oz, either. Tee hee!

Special thanks to amortentiaaa, my "official beta".

9

Rosie's POV

Rose ate her breakfast nervously, keeping a look out for the familiar brown owl she had sent to her parents last week. She tapped her goblet impatiently and wringed her wrists. Scorpius caught her eye and mouthed, _"_Breathe." She inhaled. "Breathe out", he mouthed again, a glint of amusement in his gray eyes. She exhaled.

Then, she heard an owl screech and another owl screech in response. Rose started to hyperventilate. Albus looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "Um…Rosie, are you okay?"

"Yeah, Al, why wouldn't I be okay?!" she answered hysterically.

Next to her, Molly lifted up her hand and pressed it to Rose's forehead. James snorted and asked, "Are you on some kind of medication we should know about?"

Hugo snickered and Lily slapped the back of his head. Lily was the only one who knew about the letter she had sent…besides Scorpius of course.

Then, her family owl landed in front of her and dropped an envelope on her plate. She gulped and ripped it open, her hands shaking as she read the response. The first sentences she looked at were written in her father's untidy scrawl.

_WHAT?? You have a boyfriend! Rosie, who is that boy?! I need to have a talk with him before he dates my little girl! Who is he? Why won't you_

_Sorry, Rosie, that I let your father ramble on like that. I locked him in the hallway closet, so I'm going to write this quickly before he realizes that he has a wand. Why didn't you tell me sooner that you had a boyfriend? I can't wait to meet him! I'm sure he is a nice and decent boy. Don't worry about your father. I'll talk some sense into him (again). How is Scorpius, sweetie? You didn't mention him at all in your letter. Tell him I said 'Hello' and tell your boyfriend the same thing. See you soon!_

_Love, _

_Mum _

Rose was shaking with laughter and she stuck the letter in her pocket. It was funny – her mother was supposed to be the most brilliant witch of her time, and she couldn't put two and two together. James eyed her suspiciously and Lily looked like she was going to explode if she didn't get to read the letter.

"Are you PMSing or something? Because first you're a total nutcase and now you're laughing like everything's just peachy!" James yelled. A few students looked at James and then at Rose, an amused expression on their faces. Rose turned bright red and she threw her goblet at James, pumpkin juice and all.

"Bloody hell, Rosie! What did I say??"

Rose glared at him and then got up from the table, gathering her books and giving Lily a look. Lily's eyes brightened as she realized that Rose was going to show her the letter. Then, without a farewell glance at James, she left the Great Hall.

Rose checked her watch, and she discovered that she still had about thirty minutes before class started. Her stomach grumbled and she cursed under her breath. She didn't get to finish her breakfast! _Stupid James and his stupid comments…_

She walked outside and she sat against a tree, looking at the lake as the giant squid squirted water into the air. Rose pulled out a book and started to read quietly. It seemed like she had sat there forever until she felt a pair of strong arms slipping around her waist. She breathed in Scorpius' scent as he kissed her forehead.

"Hey," he said quietly.

"Hi," she answered, leaning up for another kiss. Scorpius smirked and responded quickly. She gasped as his soft lips crashed into hers. Rose always seemed to melt every time they kissed. Her heartbeat started to thump unevenly, and he smirked against her lips. He pulled away and she pouted, wanting more. He chuckled and looked at what she was reading.

"Is it interesting?" he asked, gesturing towards the book.

"A bit…" she answered shyly.

Scorpius pried the book gently from her hands and flipped it over to read the cover. "The Wizard of Oz?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. Rose blushed and tried to take the book away. He grabbed her wrists and pinned them both down underneath his strong hand as he read the paragraph. His blonde eyebrows furrowed and then they rose up in amusement. "What kind of book is this?" he asked.

"It's a muggle book, smart one!" she teased, finally freeing her hands. She grabbed the book and sat on it, looking triumphant.

He snorted. "Well, that explains a lot. Really, I don't understand the way muggle authors visualize witches and wizards!"

It was Rose's turn to raise an eyebrow. "You read muggle material?"

Scorpius smirked. "On very rare occasions, yes."

"What books?" she asked, intertwining her fingers with his.

He looked down at their hands and smiled. "You don't know how good that feels."

"I do," she murmured and Scorpius leaned in for another kiss. Rose melted again, and for some reason, he didn't break away the kiss after a while. He kept kissing her until Rose regained her composure. She held her free hand out and softly pushed his face away. "You're distracting me! _And_ you're stalling."

He smiled. "Am I good at distractions?"

Rose glared at him. "Yes, you are _too_ good." _Wait, why was he distracting me again? And why did I stop kissing him? _Rose then shifted uncomfortably and she felt her book underneath her.

_Oh, right._ "What Muggle books have you read?" she asked again.

Scorpius made a face.

"Scorpius…" Rose started, and then he cut her off.

"I can't remember all of them! But I have read some Shakespeare material."

Rose made a face this time. "_Shakespeare?_"

"It's better than The Wizard of Oz."

Rose smiled and then snuggled up into Scorpius' chest. "You can stay if you won't comment about what I'm reading."

"I'll be good. I promise."

Her grin lit up her whole face and she pulled out her book and continued to read. Scorpius played with her hair and looked at her face while she read. He made one comment when he looked over at the book and read a paragraph about the Wicked Witch performing a charm ("What kind of spell is that? It's just a bunch of gibberish," he muttered.), but besides that, Rose felt content.

After a while, Rose checked her watch. It was ten minutes until class started, and she wasn't happy about going for one reason: Scorpius wouldn't be with her. She sighed and shifted in his arms.

He broke the silence. "Rose, can I see the letter?" he asked.

Rose groaned and then fished through her pockets until she found it. She handed the piece of parchment to him and he unfolded it. She watched his eyes rake over the page for a minute and then he laughed. "She locked him in a closet? Yes, that's _very_ clever."

Rose rolled her eyes and then sat up, stretching her arms. He kissed the tip of her nose and she blushed again. "You know, you only have about five or so minutes to get to class," he said.

She looked at him with pleading eyes. "Are you sure you don't want to 'distract' me for an hour?"

He chuckled. "I don't want you to miss class, Rosie. It wouldn't be very decent of me to 'distract' you from your academic duties."

"Fine, let's get going then," she agreed reluctantly. Scorpius helped her stack her books and then he walked her back to the school, the two of them hand in hand.

Albus' POV (first person)

"Bloody hell, Rosie! What did I say??"

Rose gave James a glare and then she strode from the Great Hall. I looked at her and then back at James, laughing quietly. He glared at me and then muttered, "PMS."

Hugo snickered and Dominique rolled her eyes. "James, that is a _personal_ subject."

"Does it look like I care right now?? I am COVERED in pumpkin juice!" This caused everyone to laugh. I looked around and saw the other students staring at us. _Who cares? We're having fun!_

I happened to glance over at the Slytherin table, just in time to see Scorpius Malfoy excuse himself and walk out. I narrowed my eyes. _Malfoy_. I hated that boy. I hated his blonde hair, his pointed features, the way every girl fell for him…he thought he was so cool.

I felt something click inside my head. Didn't Rose just leave the Great Hall? Weren't she and Malfoy, that _thing_, friends? My eyes widened and then I clenched my teeth, my family completely oblivious to my current state. Was he following Rose?

I stood up and gathered my books. "I think I'm going to go to the library and study a bit."

"Over-achiever," Hugo sang.

I hit him over the head with one of my books and walked out. I looked around and I finally spotted Malfoy's retreating figure. I narrowed my eyes again and set my books on the beginning of a staircase. If I was going to follow him, I didn't want those holding me down. And no one would dare touch them. Who would want to steal school books??

I stealthily followed him, dodging behind trees and rolling behind bushes. Okay, maybe this was taking things a bit too far, but Malfoy was acting pretty suspicious. He kept glancing over his shoulder every few feet, as if he knew I was following him. I saw him walk quietly to a tree and sit behind it. I peered over the bush I was behind. He was too far away. I looked around until I saw another tree. I dodged behind that one.

I looked again. I could make out another figure sitting beside Malfoy. I looked up at the tree I was standing under. It would be easy enough to climb…

I smacked myself mentally. _Idiot!_ I reached into my pocket and pulled out a silky material. I had forgotten about my Invisibility Cloak. I looked over at where the two figures were huddled to make sure they weren't looking, and then I quickly covered myself. This would definitely make things easier.

I crept closer and then finally settled with sitting underneath a tree that was the closet to the two. I got a good look at them then. One was Malfoy, with all of his…his…Malfoy-ness. Yes. That was a good word.

The other was a girl with soft, curly red hair. She was blushing furiously. Malfoy pressed his lips to hers and I started to get red as well – with anger.

Malfoy was kissing Rose. _Our Rose_. Rose Weasley.

The worst part was that she was enjoying it. It was clear on her face. Her features lit up and she wasn't hitting him or trying to push him away. Malfoy kissed her for much too long until he pulled away. My hands were clenched into fists.

"Is it interesting?" he asked.

I looked over and saw Rose reading a book. She answered quietly and then more conversation followed. Something about muggle books. I didn't pay much attention. I was too angry. No, that was an understatement. I was furious! Rosie with Malfoy?? I should've known. I suspected it, but I should've _known_.

The rat kissed her again and I wildly looked around for something to throw at him. An acorn, a rock, something!

"You're distracting me! _And_ you're stalling."

Distracting? Is that was she called what he was doing? A distraction? I thought a more proper word would be an 'assault'.

"Am I good at distractions?" he asked.

"Yes, you are _too_ good."

I almost gagged. This was getting to be too much for me. I wanted to drown out what she had just said. I could not believe that she liked him!! They kept talking, and I kept wanting to expose myself, to point at the two and shout, "How dare you!" and aim a punch at Malfoy. That would make me feel better.

They were quiet now. Rosie was reading and Malfoy kept _touching_ her. He touched her face, her hair, once her legs, but I don't think she noticed. She didn't even flinch. I was shaking now. I closed my eyes and I imagined myself, James, and Hugo, beating up Malfoy in some dark alley.

"Rose, can I see the letter?"

I stiffened and my eyes snapped open. _Letter? He must mean the letter she had gotten at breakfast…_

Rose groaned and handed him that very same letter. He read it and then laughed. "She locked him in a closet? Yes, very clever."

Who was this 'she' and who was this 'him'? I was too confused.

Scorpius kissed her nose. Of all places, her _nose_! But she liked it. Her ears reddened like every other Weasley's did.

"You know, you only have about five or so minutes to get to class?"

"Are you sure you don't want to 'distract' me for an hour?"

My eyes widened. There was no way in Hell he was going to…

"I don't want you to miss class, Rosie. It wouldn't be very decent of me to 'distract' you from your academic duties."

At least the creep had _some_ sense.

"Fine, let's get going then." Rose sounded sad, almost disappointed. I growled mentally. Why would she want to spend her hour with that thing?! I still couldn't believe she had kissed him. I shuddered as they walked off, hand in hand.

Once they were out of sight, I pulled off my cloak. Malfoy was with Rose. She was with him and she didn't tell anyone. She didn't tell _me_. She told me everything…right?

Malfoy was going to get it. He better watch his back or learn to sleep with his eyes open, because something was coming for him. I wasn't going to let them get away with this. There was a storm coming, and that storm was going to put an end to all of this.

**A/N: Albus knows!! Don't hurt me LOL you knew **_**SOMEONE**_** would find out. Please review! I hate it when people add me to their favorites and story alert, but never review. I want at least 45! **


	10. Confrontations

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, but I am allowed to mess around with a few things from it

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Harry Potter, but I am allowed to mess around with a few things from it! Plus, special thanks to my "beta", amortentiaaa! I love you so much! Thanks for helping me out with this!

Also, thanks to all who helped me reach the goal of 45 reviews! You all rock! And sorry for all the different point of views. Enjoy!

PS: amortentiaaa, let's see if you notice a special shout out in there for you…teehee!

10

Lily's POV (first person)

"OOH, Rosie! Please, please, please, _please_ let me see the letter _now_!!"

"Stop whining, you big baby! I need to finish my charms homework," Rose answered in an annoyed tone. I crossed my arms across my chest and glared at her as she silently wrote her essay. I saw a blush creep up to her cheeks as she realized that I was watching her. Finally, Rose groaned as her insecurity became too much for her. "You are the devil in disguise…"

I clapped my hands and bounced up and down as she reached into her pocket and thrust the letter into my waiting hands. I unfolded it and read through the response as quickly as I could, rocking back and forth on the balls of my feet.

_WHAT?? You have a boyfriend! Rosie, who is that boy?! I need to have a talk with him before he dates my little girl! Who is he? Why won't you_

_Sorry, Rosie, that I let your father ramble on like that. I locked him in the hallway closet, so I'm going to write this quickly before he realizes that he has a wand. Why didn't you tell me sooner that you had a boyfriend? I can't wait to meet him! I'm sure he is a nice and decent boy. Don't worry about your father. I'll talk some sense into him (again). How is Scorpius, sweetie? You didn't mention him at all in your letter. Tell him I said 'Hello' and tell your boyfriend the same thing. See you soon!_

_Love, _

_Mum_

I burst out laughing and Rose grinned at me proudly. "Wow, I didn't know Auntie Hermy was like that! She could've at least stunned him or something, though."

Rose started to giggle at that, and I looked at her as if she had grown another head. "What?" I asked.

"Oh, nothing…actually, if you stick around for Christmas, you might just find out."

My brown eyes widened. "So…so you _are_ taking him to the Burrow?!"

I watched as she nodded her head slowly, and I squealed so loud that Rose actually covered her ears. "OhmygoshIcan'tbelieveyou'regoingtointroducehim! DidyoutellhimthatheneededsomesortofprotectionbecauseIreallythinkhe—"

Rose put her hands on both of my shoulders and shook me. "Lily!! Slow down!!"

I took a deep breath and then I replied, "I'm calm. I'm cool."

"Good. What the hell did you eat today??" Rose asked.

"I don't know…some leftover candy from that trip to Hogsmeade…stuff from Honeydukes…but that doesn't matter! What matters is that Scorpius needs to go out and buy a cup or something, because I think he'll need all the protection he can get when you unleash the wrath of the Potters and Weasleys on him! He'll need that protection _everywhere_," I said, stressing the word on "everywhere".

Rose looked repulsed. "Ew…I just got mental images…"

I clapped my hand on her back. "That's what I'm here for."

Rose made a face. "To give me scarring mental images of my boyfriend?"

"You're getting _way_ off topic! Stop distracting me! We need to plan what you're going to do when you take Scorpius to the Burrow!"

"But I wasn't getting off topic, Lily! I was just—"

"Shut it, Rosie Posie! I'm going to make this sound as simple as I can: I am here to help you get Scorpius accepted by our psychopath, prejudice relatives. Okay?"

"Lily…you have successfully given me a headache…" Rose wailed, clutching her forehead.

I gave her a kiss on the cheek and then started to bounce up the stairs which led to the girl's dormitory. "That's what I'm here for!"

I heard Rose groan and then I saw her light body fall onto the couch with a quiet 'thud'.

Albus' POV (first person)

I came in through the portrait hole exhausted and slightly frustrated. James had bombarded me with Quidditch "strategies" and comments on my flying just after my potion's test…

"Really, Al, your flying is…well, a bit _sloppy_."

I clenched my teeth and then looked at my brother with irritation. "James, will you shut it?"

"That didn't sound too cheery. What's wrong? Did _another_ chick turn you down? Or did some Slytherins pull your pants down in front of some hot Gryffindors?"

"Don't test me, James—"

"Lighten up, will you? Listen, I got this whole new strategy for our next match! Why don't you just pass the Quaffle to Rosie a bit more, huh? Really, she could fly circles around you!" he teased.

"I'm not in the mood, _Jamsie-poo_. So get the hell out of here and go snog someone in a broom closet."

"I might just do that actually…" James looked around and then his eyes lit up and he started to chase a tall Ravenclaw down the corridor. "Hey, Kimmy! Lookin' good!"

I rolled my eyes as I started for my common room…

I came back to the present and my bad day got even worse when I saw who was sprawled all over the couch: Rose.

Yesterday I had found out that Rose was with Scorpius Malfoy. _Malfoy_. I shuddered as a mental image of them snogging the bloody daylights out of each other popped into my mind.

I took a deep breath and sat down on the couch next to Rose. Her head popped up immediately and she grinned, completely unaware of the knowledge I knew. "Hey, Al! What's up?"

"Oh nothing. The usual."

"What exactly is the 'usual'?" she asked.

"You know…_drama_. _Relationships_ and _stuff _ like that." I hoped she would see what I meant.

"Like what?" she asked, oblivious.

"Students _dating_ other students _outside of their houses_. I saw this _Gryffindor_ snogging a _Slytherin_ just the other day."

I heard Rose's breath hitch at the back of her throat. She must have seen where I was going with this. She had to see it!

"Oh…really?" she asked, her voice going up an octave.

"Yeah. Quite a shame. Must've been really hard on their _families_."

"Must've…"

"But maybe they didn't_ tell anyone_, you know? Maybe it's a _secret_?"

Her ears started to turn red.

I had her exactly where I wanted her.

Rose's POV (third person, as always)

"Ummm…a-a secret?" Rose stammered. _Shit, shit, shit! I'm done for! He must know!!_

"Yeah, a secret. They probably didn't even tell his or her _closest cousin_."

_Yes, I am definitely done for. Lord, just take me now._

"Maybe they thought their cousin was going to be a prejudiced fool!" Rose shouted. Albus' eyes got wide and she put her hand over her mouth.

"So, it's true, isn't it?" he asked, his quiet voice laced thick with menace and anger.

"What are you referring to?" Rose asked in a whisper.

"Scorpius Malfoy, Rose. I saw you."

"When? Where? What?" she mouthed.

"After lunch yesterday. You two were all lovey-dovey underneath some tree…_snogging_. He kept touching you _everywhere_!!"

_Everywhere_. _Didn't Lily just say something about Scorpius needing…_

Rose giggled and Albus looked at her with pure fury in his eyes. "This isn't funny, Rose!"

"I'm—I'm not laughing at—at you!"

"SHUT UP!"

She silenced at once, terrified at her fuming cousin.

Albus pinched the bridge of his nose and paced back and forth in front of her. Then, he let out an exasperated sigh and towered over her. "Why didn't you tell me, Rosie?"

Rose stared at him, trying to keep a straight face.

"Don't you trust me? You tell me everything!"

"How could I tell you?" Rose whispered. "I knew you would be this way…you wouldn't understand…"

"Understand what?? That you were dating our enemy—"

"You mean _your_ enemy! Albus you are so, so—!"

"So what, Rosie?"

"You're so prejudiced! He's a good person! He's not his father, or his grandfather! He's different! If you would only listen to him—"

"I'm not listening to anything that pervert says! He will not be dating you anymore!" Albus yelled.

Rose clenched her teeth together. She knew no other student was in the tower, besides Lily, so this fight would go unheard by students who didn't know about the relationship.

"You have no control over who I date. Or kiss!" Rose yelled back.

"I'm your cousin! And if Uncle Ron says 'no' to this, then I will cheerfully beat Malfoy to death!"

"You're not touching Scorpius!" Rose screamed, rising from the couch and standing nose to nose with Albus. "Or telling my father!"

"Oh yeah?" Albus hissed.

Rose glared at him. "Yeah."

"Watch me, Rosie," he said and started to walk towards the exit.

Rose stared with wide eyes as Albus reached for the doorknob. She stumbled over herself and started to reach out for Albus, ready to punch his face in. He opened the door and was about to step out when…

"STUPEFY!" yelled a voice and a jet of light hit Albus in the waist. He clutched his side and tumbled to the ground.

Rose screamed and then looked up to see who the attacker was.

**A/N: **

**Fan: CLIFFHANGER? WTF! chucks things at the author**

**Me: Oh noes! OUCHIE! **

**Cliffy! Who did that spell? Review and tell me what you think!**


	11. Persuasion

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Harry Potter, but I can mess around with the characters! Special thanks to amortentiaaa for being the most awesome beta ever!

I'm SO sorry this took FOREVER! I had schoolwork and other crap going on. But, here it is!

11

"_STUPEFY!" yelled a voice and a jet of light hit Albus in the waist. He clutched his side and tumbled to the ground._

_Rose screamed and then looked up to see who the attacker was._

Scorpius stood there with his wand raised, his blonde hair hanging messily in his red face.

"Scorpius!" Rose breathed. "What in the—?"

"Expelliarmus!" yelled a new voice and Scorpius' wand shot out of his hand. Rose whipped around and saw Lily standing at the foot of the stairs, wand in hand.

"Lily!" Rose yelled.

Lily walked down the stairs gracefully, wand still pointed at Scorpius. "Why is Albus on the ground?" she demanded.

"He verbally abused my girlfriend!" Scorpius yelled, pointing to Rose, who blushed in return.

"Well, you shouldn't be in here, Scorpius!!" Lily shot back.

"What just happened??" Rose demanded, still confused.

"Ouch…" came Albus' voice; the spell didn't work as well as Scorpius had hoped.

Scorpius yanked Albus to his feet and pinned him against the wall, his wand raised at his throat. Rose narrowed her eyes and Lily pointed her wand directly at Scorpius' back.

"Scorpius, put my cousin down," Rose pleaded.

"Not until he apologized for everything he said to you!" Scorpius hissed.

Rose gasped. "You heard all of that???"

He nodded. "I was walking by your common room, and I could clearly hear Albus' voice. He was yelling pretty loudly, and if someone else had been in that corridor, the whole school would've known we were dating…

"So, I listened; if I had known the password, I would've come in sooner. Then he said something about sending a letter, so I had to stop him."

Lily lowered her wand. She looked at Rose, her eyes wide. "Albus knows?"

"'Course I know!" Albus yelled. "Take your hands off me, Malfoy!!"

"Apologize to Rosie!"

"STOP!!" Rose yelled.

Scorpius and Albus both looked at Rose, who was glaring at them. Lily stood by her side with the same expression.

"Now, Scorpius, put him down _please_," Rose asked again, but in a softer, kinder voice.

Scorpius' eyes softened a bit and he let go of Albus, who hit the floor hard. "Sorry, Rosie," he muttered.

Albus jumped up and glared at Scorpius. Rose walked over and put her hand in Scorpius', intertwining their fingers. "Albus," she started. "I _am_ going to tell my father. Soon. Until then, can you keep quiet?"

Albus crossed his arms, eyeing their fingers laced together, and Scorpius' free arm that snaked around Rose's waist. He scrunched up his nose as if he was smelling something foul, and he gave an exasperated sigh. "I don't like this…"

Lily's hand twitched, threatening to raise her wand again.

Albus caught this. "But…I guess I could keep quiet until you tell him. When will that be, Rosie?" he asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Christmas," she answered quickly. Scorpius smirked.

"Great present," Albus muttered. "I really don't like this, you know," he repeated.

"_You_ may not," Rose said. "But it's working out just fine for us."

"Truce?" Scorpius offered, his hand extended.

Albus glared at him. "Not a chance. I said I wouldn't say anything, but that doesn't mean I like you now." With that Albus strolled out of the common room, Scorpius' hand still reached out.

With Christmas a month away and the next Quidditch match coming up, Rose had a lot on her mind. Now that Albus knew, Rose made him cover for her as well, and he reluctantly agreed to. Of course it took some persuading, but no one would say no when Lily had her wand pointed at their face.

She was sitting in the Room of Requirement with Scorpius, passionately kissing him. Their homework was laid out, untouched once again. Rose eagerly wove her fingers through his hair and he smiled against her lips. Her mouth parted slightly and she felt his sweet breath.

He broke the kiss and she let a giggle escape her lips, ducking her head so he wouldn't see her blush.

"Rosie," he said, taking her chin in his hands and pulling her face up to his. "Have I ever told you how much I love that blush?"

This only made her blush more, and she struggled for coherency. "Um, no," but then she was cut off by Scorpius kissing her again.

Though they had been dating for what seemed like forever to Rose, she could never pull herself together after a kiss. Even if he grabbed her hand, her head would start spinning and her heart would pick up speed.

Scorpius smiled against her lips as heat flooded her cheeks again. "There it is again. That perfect blush." He lifted up his hand and sweetly caressed her cheek. She stared into his eyes and he smiled back. They had been doing this a lot lately, like they were having their own conversation.

She leaned in and Scorpius lied back on the couch, so that Rose was on top of him. She laid her head against his chest and closed her eyes, the both of them breathing together. He absentmindedly laced their fingers together, over and over and over…

"It's nearly time for us to be heading back."

"Damn," Rose muttered. "I can never get enough time with you."

"Don't worry, Rosie. We've got Christmas to look forward to." Rose could tell he was smirking even though she couldn't see him. She opened her eyes and looked up. Sure enough his perfect smirk was there.

"Don't remind me," she groaned.

He chuckled. "Everything will be fine." Then he kissed the top of her head and Rose really felt like everything would be fine.

That feeling didn't last very long.

Rose was trying to tune Lily out as she planned out what they would do on Christmas when Rose finally introduced her boyfriend to the family.

"So, obviously he'll come over with you, right? Maybe you should go in first and he should wait outside. Then you'll tell your mom and dad about the wonderful boy you brought over for them to meet. Then Scorpius walks in, your mom locks your dad in a closet again, and then it's smooth sailing from there. Right? Rosie? Are you even listening to me?"

"No," Rose answered, rubbing her temples.

"Rosie!! You need to practice what you're going to say to your parents!"

"Actually, I was hoping I could just improvise."

"WHAT??" Lily screeched. "No, no, no! Here, let's get started. I'll be your parents."

Rose lifted up her head from where they were lying outside and looked up at her cousin. "What??"

"Stand up, Rosie Posie," Lily instructed. Then, she cleared her voice and tried to mimic Rose's father. "Rosie, it's so good to see you home for Christmas!"

"Lily, this is ridiculous—"

"OH, ROSIE!" she said, her voice higher. She was mimicking Rose's mother. She bounced up and down and hugged Rose. "How is school?"

Rose sighed and gave in. "Fine, mum. How have things been?"

"Oh just wonderful! Now, where is this boy we've all been dying to meet?"

As if on cue, Scorpius walked up to where they were standing and wrapped his arms around Rose. She stiffened and looked around to make sure no one else was out there with Lily and her. The coast was clear.

"What are you two doing?" he asked.

"We're practicing for when Rosie takes you home for Christmas. Now stand over there and look pretty," Lily instructed. Scorpius shrugged and leaned against a tree. He winked at Rose which instantly made her stomach flip and her cheeks blush.

"Now," Lily continued in the falsetto Hermione voice. "Where is this wonderful boyfriend of yours?"

"He's actually waiting outside, mum," Rose answered dully.

Lily took a step to the side and pretended to be Ron. "Well bring him in! I'd like to have a word with this boy!" Lily then looked at Scorpius. "This is where you come in."

Scorpius tried hard not to laugh when he stepped in and grasped Rose's hand.

"Mum, Dad, this is Scorpius Malfoy, my boyfriend."

"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley," Scorpius said as he addressed Lily, still trying to keep a straight face.

"WHAT?" Lily bellowed, imitating Ron's inevitable fury. "Your boyfriend is a _Malfoy_??"

Rose groaned and yelled, "Lily!!"

"I'm not done yet!!" Lily assured her. "Watch!" Then she stepped to the side and pointed an imaginary wand at where she was previously standing. "Shut up, Ronald! Stupefy!"

She stepped back as Ron and dramatically tumbled to the ground, twitching. "Ow! It hurts! I should be stunned right now but I am going to continue screaming like a girl!!"

Scorpius couldn't hold in his laughter any longer, and he burst out laughing at Lily's show. Rose looked at him in awe as he couldn't control his laughter. He was even more amazing when he was laughing, his head thrown back and the sun playing on his hair…

She was so distracted that she didn't even notice that Lily had stopped and was watching her ogle at Scorpius.

"Well, Rosie—"

"Lily, leave," Rose commanded.

"Fine then," Lily said. She gave Rose a wink and then walked off, leaving Scorpius and Rose alone.

Scorpius smiled at her. "That was…"

"The most horrible thing you've ever seen?" Rose finished helpfully.

"Actually, it was quite entertaining."

"But you do know that my dad is really going to be like that, right?" Rose asked quietly.

Scorpius leaned in towards her and his hands cupped underneath her chin. "Will you please stop worrying? You said your mum wouldn't care, right?"

"Yes, but—"

"So obviously she will talk some sense into your father."

Rose sighed. "And you're sure you want to meet them?"

"I want to meet everyone important in your life," Scorpius said. Then he leaned down to kiss her, but Rose gently pulled away.

He looked at her confused and Rose only smiled. "I actually wouldn't mind if you kissed me, but we can't do that out in broad daylight."

"Are you suggesting we go somewhere alone?"

Rose nodded and Scorpius smirked. He took her hand and they stealthily ran into the school, through the corridors, and into the Room of Requirement. Once they got inside, Rose stretched up on her toes and attacked Scorpius' lips. He stumbled back a bit, but didn't break the kiss.

"I actually have a question for you…" Rose started, merely murmuring against his lips.

Scorpius' lips then left hers and lightly kissed her cheek, her jaw, and then her neck. Rose froze for a second and her arms tightened around his neck.

"Are you trying to distract me?" Rose asked, her voice shaky.

"Is it working?" he whispered against her neck.

"Yes, actually…"

"Then I won't stop."

His gave light kisses along her collarbone and then worked his way back up to her lips. Rose's head was clouded with only one name: Scorpius. It kept repeating over and over in her head.

Scorpius. Scorpius. Scorpius. Scorpius.

"I still have a question," Rose squeaked out, recovering from the distraction.

"I wish you wouldn't ask it," he whispered.

"Why?"

"Because," he said pulling his lips from hers. "It will probably be about Christmas and I wish you would just relax. Am I right? It's about Christmas again, huh?"

"No, but it's not about my parents either, I swear."

"Then what's it about?"

"Your parents."

Scorpius froze. "What about them?"

"Do they know about…us?"

He took a deep breath and then said quietly, "No."

Rose looked at him in astonishment. "So all that time with you persuading me to tell my folks…you had not told yours either?"

"My parents are different, Rosie."

Her eyes narrowed. "No they're not. You need to tell them. I'll make you…" She then kissed his neck. "I'll have to persuade you."

He stiffened and she smiled. "Scorpius…why won't you tell your parents?" As she said this she started kissing his collarbone, just like he had done to her.

"They're more prejudiced than your family, Rose," he answered, his voice slightly controlled.

She worked her way up to his neck again. "How so?" she asked, still kissing him.

"They're…they…my dad…" his voice shook slightly.

Rose kissed the corner of his mouth. "I can't understand a word you're saying."

"Unlike your family, my father is very proud…and…he would literally kill me…"

Rose was about to kiss his mouth when he grabbed her waist and pushed her up against the wall. He put his arms out on either side of her and smirked. Rose raised an eyebrow.

"It's my turn, Miss Weasley."

Rose gave him an annoyed look. "With what?"

"To persuade you to stop persuading me."

She pouted. Her plan had backfired.

Scorpius though, started at her forehead and planted a sweet kiss there. His mouth trailed down to her nose and then hovered over her mouth, his only brushing it for a second.

"Wha…?" was all Rose could get out.

"Why are you so persistent, Rosie?"

"I…I don't know…" she gasped out.

His mouth continued to tease her, trailing down to her neck and kissing her collarbone and her shoulders. "Why can't you let it go?"

"I'm not sure…" she said, dazed.

Then his lips went back to hers. "Don't you love me?" he whispered against her mouth.

"Yes," she said giving in. "But…"

Then his hands left the wall and went around her waist. His hands snaked underneath her shirt and touched her bare sides. Rose gasped again and he smirked. "You truly do?"

"Yes!"

"Are you going to continue bothering me about this, Rosie?"

"No, but—"

His lips crashed onto hers and Rose forgot her new train of thought. Then he pulled away, his gray eyes triumphant. "I win."

Rose looked at him, her emotions mixed up in annoyance, glee, and just downright confusion.

Her eyes narrowed. "That was unfair."

"No it wasn't."

"This conversation isn't over," Rose said fiercely.

"To you it might not be, but I still win."

"Fine. But I need just one question—"

Scorpius silenced her once again by attacking her lips. Rose didn't ask another question that day.

**A/N**: There you go! A nice, yummy, long chapter. As you can see, Rose and Scorpius' relationship has gotten more intimate. Now…

If you have any interesting theories or ideas about how Christmas is going to end up, tell me! I would love to see what is going on in those pretty little heads of yours.

And maybe if I feel like it, I'll post up a teaser chapter. The only thing is, you won't know what chapter it's from!! –dun dun dun!!-

Hehe! Review please!


	12. Author Note Apology

I'm Sorry!

To all my readers:

I am so sorry for not updating on this story. I have had finals and lots of projects for school. I'm on summer break now, so I have more time, but I just started another story.

I wish I had the time to write both, but I don't. I'm gone the entire day because I do have a job. I go to work at 8:30, and I get home around 5:00.

I love "Crossing the Line". But right now I need to focus on "One Night, Two Hearts". I'm in the zone, people! I actually know where this story is going, and I need to write it all down before I continue working on my Rose/Scorpie fanfiction.

Don't worry; I'm not cancelling this story. I just need time for some other projects. The story, as of now, is on a hold.

Or, a break, if you will.

So, if you want, and if you're a "Friends" fan, you can read my other story, "One Night, Two Hearts." I guess you don't have to know "Friends" to get it, but if you plan on watching the show someday, there are spoilers.

I also want to thank everyone who has supported this story. Keep waiting, my loves.

Once again, I am sorry for this. But don't worry, the story will continue.

Love you all,

~DevotedTwilight, AKA Auntie Cullen


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